Letters at Midnight
by Spring of Inked Dreams
Summary: When you know she is the sworn enemy, when you know that you two live worlds apart, when you know that this could only end in tragedy...would you still love her? And so begins the tale of a forbidden love...SasuSaku inspired by Romeo and Juliet.
1. Once Upon a Time

**Letters at Midnight**

**Hey everyone. My second SakuSasu fanfiction is here. First, I want you all to REVIEW after reading please. And second, I'm not going to take credit for all of this. This fanfiction is based on a bit of the fairytale: ****Robin Hood****, the anime: ****Romeo x Juliet****, and of course, ****Naruto****. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I never will. I really don't get why I have to do this.**

--

**Chapter 1: Once Upon a Time**

_Can you hear me now? My words written on paper...can you read them? _

_Are you watching me?_

_I still write to you, you know. I don't know why. I keep on thinking that if I were to keep on writing, as if everything were still the same, I would wake up to the sun shining in my eyes and find you. And I would walk to the very same tree and the edge of the walls to find the very same arrow pinning a message. A message from you._

_And then I would find you. Waiting for me._

_But it's not. It's not the same._

_Did you know, that all the villagers tell a story about you now? There's a story about us. About you and me, rescuing the village. They tell about you the most though. How generous you were. How courageous. How kind._

_But they forgot to mention one thing in the story:_

_They forgot how you left me._

--

"We've almost arrived, Sasuke-heika."

He looked out the carriage. Out to the pale silver pathway paved by the full moon hanging above the gray shadow of a mansion. The hooves of the horses clacked while the coach rocked uneasily. He rubbed his forehead. He would make sure to tell his Uncle about the uncomfortable ride.

"We must saddle our own horses now."

He stepped out of the carriage and saddled a pure white horse. The saddle was jeweled in red, while he held the gold-lined reins with a straight back.

Suddenly, the sound of galloping horses running the opposite direction shattered the silence of the night. The horses whinnied as he could hear the voices call.

"It's the Robin Hood!"

"Make sure he doesn't get away!"

He could see the crowd of men from the palace running after a single cloaked figure. They managed to surround him, but the shadow only nimbly blocked every one of their swords. He broke away, jumping onto a horse without properly saddling it and started to gallop away.

"Get him!"

He could see the figure coming closer to him. His cloak billowing out behind him, the hood covering his face in shadows as he hunched over the mare's neck. He carried a sack filled with gold behind his back. Agile and quick.

Then, he felt it, the rush of air as the figure passed by him. He looked to his side.

They met eyes.

Onyx eyes of never-ending storm, hair of royal raven black.

Green eyes of spring, a hint of pink hair hidden under the hood.

_A girl?! _

And then the figure left, leaving only dust behind, as he was left to watch him disappear into the forest.

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A/N: I've already said all I needed before, really. All I'll say again is: COMMENT.

**Oh, some vocab:**

**Heika- A honorific meaning "king" or "queen"**

**I might be a bit slow on updating since I suck at keeping up with a lot of fanfics at once.**


	2. Thoughts

**Chapter 2: Thoughts of a Stranger**

_I never got a chance to tell you this, but when I first met you, I couldn't stop thinking about you. I knew you were different. You were special. Does it count for you to know if I write it here on ink? Can you know now?_

_Maybe you would be able to know if you were still here. Maybe you could've known sooner. Maybe you could've stayed longer, allowed me- us- to be in one another's arms longer. Allow us to enjoy the thought that we are not alone. _

_Yet when I first saw you, I didn't know. No matter how long I spent that day after, thinking of you, I didn't figure it out. I never came to realize who you were to me. _

_And then I think, maybe if I had realized it sooner, I could have told you sooner. And If I had told you sooner..._

_Maybe you didn't have to go._

--

"This Robin Hood nonsense must cease!" A fist was brought down onto a wooden, antique long table.

The large wooden door opened and he walked in, closing it behind him. He made his presence, with his blue cape trailing behind him on the ground and studded with jewels. He ignored the other servants of the room staring at him as his uncle at the end of the table- the one who had banged his fist in outrage- bowed politely.

"Ah, Sasuke-heika. How did you sleep last night?"

His uncle had a deep voice with a some-what commanding edge to it that Sasuke ignored. Sasuke bore a resemblance to his uncle, with his spiky black hair. The only difference between the two was that his uncle had long hair that trailed behind him. The other was that his eyes had a hint of red, whereas Sasuke's eyes were only of dull grayish-black.

Other than that, the two had the same confidence in their stride and the same emotionless voice. Like all the royals in the House of Uchiha had.

He responded, "Fine." He looked around at the admirals and commanders of the palace. "What's going on?"

His uncle bowed again. "Ah, just a little trouble being stirred up in the village."

He knew it was about that person last night. He had been thinking about him all night, being kept up by just the thought of the one second when they met eyes.

Sasuke walked over to the map laid out on the table. It was a scroll showing the layout of the village, right at the foot of the hill where the palace stood. There were circles of ink over some of the sections.

One of the commanders pointed out on the map. "We've checked nearly all the areas in the village, Madara-denka. He doesn't live in any of these places."

_What if he is a she? _Sasuke thought. For that person...with those green eyes...they didn't seem to belong to a man. Of course, it wasn't any good proof. He just could sense it, after replaying the scene when he saw the eyes underneath the hood for many nights during the whole night. He couldn't get him- or her- out of his head.

His uncle looked at the commander at the corner of his eye with a deadly glance and replied coolly. "I believe you said 'nearly' all the areas. Not 'all'." The commander looked down in shame. "I want you to continue searching the village until this man is caught!"

The soldiers bowed and left the room as they were dismissed. Sasuke watched as his uncle strolled to the large window that faced the village. Looking out the glass with his back faced to his nephew, he said. "There's been a mere commoner out-smarting our soldiers and stealing our belongings. He's been giving them to the villagers like it's Christmas everyday. God damn it." He said bitterly.

Then he turned around and faced his silent nephew, putting a new smile on his face. "But now is not the time to worry about that. For your coronation is coming up soon, and we should be at our utmost diligence."

Sasuke didn't respond as he peered out the window, looking down at the small houses at the foot of the hill. That was what he would soon rule, along with the large palace here.

Before yesterday, he lived at a boarding school at a nearby village preparing for his education for the day he gained his throne. He was only known as a prince to the House of Uchiha, the family that had been ruling this village for years. His father was the previous king along with his mother- the queen-, and after that his brother ruled. They were punished by hanging for committing some sort of crime. He had forgotten what it was, but he assumed that it was a crime for serving as a horrible ruler.

But he knew he was going to be better. He wasn't like them, a shame to the House of Uchiha.

He couldn't focus. All he could think of was the shadow. The figure from last night. Something was different about that person. He did not seem like a normal commoner. When he thought of him, something frustrating turned his head.

He asked his uncle, "I now have command over the troops, correct?"

His uncle looked at him questioningly as he answered. "Why, yes."

Then, he walked towards the door he came in. "Then I shall go see them."

His uncle rushed after him, but Sasuke was already down the large hallway. "What are you planning to do?"

He replied.

"I'm taking over the command of this Robin Hood case."

**--**

**A/N: Yes, I know, these chapters are so short compared to the other ones I would write. But that's because each chapter tells the story from a different view of two people. And it's in third person because I find Sasuke difficult to write as in first. Anyway, the third person style only gives away the person's thoughts that I'm writing about, so it's still in someone's point of view. **

**Denka is a title for a royal person below the King, but still pretty high up. Like a duke.**

**R&R! I still don't know what that means...**

**Oh, and does anyone want to guess who this "Robin Hood" is? Because I'm giving it away in the next chapter but I think you all already know... **


	3. Impressions

**Chapter 3: First Impressions**

_Did you think of me as much of I thought of you?_

_Did you spend that first night sleepless, tossing and turning with me in your mind?_

_What did you think of me?_

_I've always wondered this, yet I had never bothered to ask you. But now that you're gone, these questions haunt me even more. And I wish I did ask. _

_Did you think of me as just any other person? Just another person of a royal family? Did you think I was different, as I did of you?_

_I think about it, and I realize as my quill scratches the parchment, that I was scared. I didn't want you to answer with words that could hurt my heart. _

_I wanted for you to think of me the same; different. _

_For if I were just any other person to you, then all those times we've had together would a be lie. Those feelings would all just be fake. Love is supposed to be different from any other relationship. When you see someone you love, you see someone different than anybody else. That's what makes it so special._

_And if all those feelings were fake, then love, then all those days we spent saying "us" would be pointless. If that was the case, then we should've just went on with our lives without knowing each other._

_And that's what scares me the most. If I hadn't known you. _

_Yet, if I hadn't known you, you wouldn't have gone._

_And now that you are, no other pain could be as agonizing. This question that once haunted me...it's not my worst nightmare anymore. It can't hurt as much as I am hurting now._

_And so, I ask you this on paper, the question you never had a chance to hear through your ears:_

_What did you think of me?_

--

"It's him!"

"He's back!"

A hooded silhouette rode on a chocolate-brown mare, walking it down the stony road. The cloak was a dark, burgundy red and the shoes the person wore were styled like a man's. A light sword was tied at his waist, but there was also a bow carried at his back along with arrows. And if one looked closer at the arrows, there would be a single cherry blossom insignia at the metal of each arrowhead.

The figure passed by a silversmith shop, and the strong man melting the steel stopped to look and nod his head in acknowledgement. The butcher slapped down his beef to wave, and the maids stopped with their washing to pick up their skirts and get a look of the hooded person.

The woman brought their children out of their houses, ushering them to the streets to greet the person. Soon enough, a whole crowd surrounded the horse and her rider.

The children approached the mare without fear and stroked her. A young girl shyly fed a small amount of sugar to the horse. The mare breathed out a warm breath and nuzzled her. The girl giggled and hugged her head.

Another bold boy went up and looked up at the hooded person. "Robin, what do you have this time?" His eyes were bright and admiring, like all the faces of the village surround the figure- that person was their hope.

The figure slipped off the hood, revealing the boy-cut pink hair and deep green eyes that seemed to dance. It was a boy, slim with agility and looking in his mid-teens- sixteen to seventeen. But nobody really knew for sure how old he was, nobody really knew anything about him at all, and he made sure of that.

He smiled, "I always have something."

For the next hour, he spent time giving out everything he had in the large sack tied to his mare. He gave more sugar to the housewives, more gold to the men, and more toys to the small children.

"Okay, okay, break it up! Show's over!" A boy with blonde, messy hair and energetically obnoxious blue eyes broke through the crowd. He shooed all the villagers away. "Robin's done with you all today! Now get!"

Only a small girl stood, still staring in awe at the boy on the mare. He did look dignified, but in a different way. A brave and courageous way, but not selfish. She blushed and looked down when he his eyes looked at her. Her face showed disappointment and sadness, as her hands were empty.

He only smiled warmly, "Don't worry, I still have something."

He dug into his pockets and handed her a piece of candy. "Here." He winked. "Next time, don't let the others bully you into letting them go first."

He rode off, leaving the girl with a huge smile on her face.

The blonde boy snorted as he walked alongside the horse and the teen. "Psh, all these people, it's like they don't care that you're risking your life for them. Fighting over food like savages, hmph!"

The teenager on the horse looked down at his companion and only smiled. "You didn't have to be so rude though, Naruto" It was okay. He knew that the younger boy didn't mean it. In reality, Naruto loved the villagers as much as himself.

The boy walking looked in his pre-teens, about ten to eleven as he answered. "Yeah, yeah, whatever."

The teenager teased his friend, his green eyes laughing. "No matter what you say, you can't deny that you like playing your jokes on the soldiers."

Naruto grunted and scowled. "Well yeah, you should've let me go with you."

They walked out of the village walls and entered the forest that surrounded the kingdom. At the very center was their home, a large tree that stood at the heart of the forest.

The older boy hopped off his horse and tied her to a tree. Then, he walked to the stump with a worn mirror in front of it. He sat on it and grabbed the comb.

Naruto started the fire behind his older friend and then continued talking. "I can fight as well as you can."

The boy's reflection from the mirror gave Naruto a raised eyebrow. Naruto restated his words. "Well, almost. If you teach me more on the archery part I'd be better!"

The boy was kind as he replied. "No. I don't want you getting hurt. After all, you are my closest friend and the only one I trust to keep my secrets." It was true, the two had been best friends since the day they met four years ago. Since then, they had together in the forest and helped the villagers get their food and money.

Naruto grumbled in embarrassment. "Yeah, I know I'm important." He didn't catch the little laugh that escaped from the other boy's lips. Then he muttered. "I still don't get why you have to hide who you really are from everyone else."

His friend laughed and then gave a smirk. "That's 'cause if the soldiers found out that the person who was pranking them all the time wasn't who they thought, it'd be pretty embarrassing." He took the comb and looked into the mirror.

Naruto looked at his friend in admiration and then concern. "Yeah, but you shouldn't be so reckless. You know you're the only hope of the village,"

The mob of short pink hair fell to the boy's foot; a wig. A tangle of shoulder length hair tumbled down in a ribbon of blossom pink. The mirror now revealed a girl with nimble features; laughing green eyes and fair, but somewhat dirty, skin.

"Sakura."

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A/N: Voila. It's Sakura! So "Robin Hood" is Sakura. Teehee. And now that you all know that the King is Sasuke and Sakura's Robin Hood, now it's gonna get a bit Romeo and Juliet...

Yes, Naruto is younger than Sakura by a few years. It's gonna be like that, with some characters that should be the same age now younger and older. I don't like putting OCs.

And if there's any confusion with the italics above, some of you will figure out later (if you hopefully keep on reading). But those are letters from someone to someone else. I won't tell who the people are, but it gets obvious later.

**Please comment. Is this story bad? Eesh...**


	4. Adoration

**Chapter 4: Loved by All**

_You always said it wasn't true, but I've always thought it was. _

_Have you ever heard of those bedtime stories, the stories about a brave knights and kings? Do you remember how they go? Well, I do. The knight is always the brave one. Brave, strong, chivalrous. _

_The knight is always loved._

_Just like you._

_You laughed when I told you that, remember? You said that I hated you when we first met. You thought that I would hate you because I didn't know you yet, just your false name. You didn't feel bad about it. In fact, you even told me I was the knight instead. _

_But you were wrong. _

_I never had hated you. Not even the first time I looked in your eyes. Not even when I heard that name. It's true._

_I have always loved you. And I always will_

_But I cannot fool myself. Nor can I lie to you: I'm not so sure anymore._

_I've learned from you that it is too easy to hate. The day we talked, I swore that I would never blame my anger upon you. Yet now, I am burdening you._

_I'm blaming you for my loneliness._

_I don't want to, but I can't help it. And to some case, it rings true, and that's what scares me the most. I want to think of you as the knight._

_Yet, if I had not met you, had not had any feelings for you at all...If I had not given my heart to you:_

_I wouldn't have hurt so much in the end._

_And now I wonder, with your consequences worse than mine:_

_Do you feel the same way about me now too?_

--

A flash of red blew in the gusty wind, along with a glint of steel. A boy's laugh rung the air. "Haha! Catch me if you can!"

His cape fluttered over a soldier's head as he kicked him and knocked him out, despite the armor the man had on. Confused shouts rung out in the forest as the boy continued the cause chaos among the group.

One soldier managed to block the sword that was flashing wildly in the sun. He only caught a glimpse of the boy's face: short pink hair, green eyes that danced with laughter at watching them try to catch him. The soldier grew frustrated and tried to slash his long sword at the boy's face. But he only twirled gracefully in the air like an acrobat and landed on the blade of the sword, unhurt. Then he disappeared.

All the soldiers knew that the boy was notorious for disappearing and reappearing to cause damaging chaos. They all began to skitter and the captain commanded. "Stand your ground!"

The vice-captain nervously said in a quiet tone to his captain. "But, taichou...wouldn't it be best for us to leave before the Robin Hood causes more trouble?"

"No." The captain was stubborn. "We are not to give up till we catch the peasant."

"But taichou! We have a supply in the wagon and he might take-

Shouts rung out and the horses reared. The captain looked back. The wagon had completely exploded. His men began to hide for cover.

He yelled in frustration. "Stand your ground! I command you all to catch that man!" They scurried around anxiously, but he was already gone.

The vice captain fumbled with his sword as he tried to reassure his superior. "At least, at least we still have the gold."

"Taichou...we have a problem..." Another soldier called out. The captain turned to the wagon as his men lifted the white covers.

What were supposed to be chests of gold were now only chests of flour.

"Damn you, Robin Hood!"

--

Sakura whistled as she hopped across tree branches with her catch slung over her shoulders, all the way until she reached the center of the forest. She delicately jumped to the ground, making sure not to make a single sound when her toes touched the grass.

She looked around the area. She sighed in relief. Good. He hadn't caught her yet.

On her tippy-toes, she crept across the large tree and to a rotting trunk, about to hide the sack she was carrying.

"Ahem."

She stopped midway and turned her head. Naruto stood at the branch of the tree in the middle, looking down at her with his hands folded across his chest.

"Did you have fun on your little trip?" He asked sarcastically.

She quickly hid the stuff behind her back and laughed nervously. "Ah haha...What do you mean? I was here the whole time!"

"Uh-huh, and I suppose you were wearing the wig for fun?"

She had forgotten about the wig. She quickly took it off and laughed again. "Uh...Yes! Of course! For fun!"

"Right, and what's that you have hiding behind your back?"

Oh shoot, he caught her. She should've known it would happen anyway, Naruto knew her too well. She sighed and dropped the bag in front of him. "Alright, alright. You caught me."

He sighed, it was that same sigh every time, the one that made her feel bad. "Sakura." Then he looked in the bag. "What did you do this time?"

She winced. He sounded like an angry parent that was tired of a naughty child's wrongdoing. She hated it when he did that. But she understood how he felt. Still, she couldn't help going off and teasing the soldiers, and she didn't want to bring him with her since he could get hurt.

She giggled sheepishly. "Ahaha...About that...I sorta..."

He glared at her. "Sorta what?"

She dropped her voice to a tiny volume and talked faster, hoping he wouldn't hear her. "...blew up a wagon and left a troop stranded in the forest."

"Sakura!"

It was useless. He heard her anyway. She flinched and then laughed guilty. "Haha...Well, at least I can repay the orphanage!"

She had a point. He sighed again. "Well, yeah. But," He looked at her with worried eyes. "You can't just go around playing with the soldiers for fun."

She looked away. He was right, she did attack the soldiers partially for fun. It was though, watching them cower in fright and confusion. But it was for the villagers too...

"You're the only hope for this village. You can't recklessly risk your life all the time."

She looked down. "I know. But I can't help it. It's fun."

He slapped his head. She knew he wasn't happy with her, and she hated it was it was like that. She knew that what she was planning to say next would bring her much regret later, but for the sake of their friendship...

"Will letting you join me next time make it up to you?"

He brightened up and looked at her with huge blue eyes. "Really?! You mean it?" Then he took the bag and started heading to the village. "Then what are you waiting for? Let's get these to the orphanage!"

--

"Well, if it isn't the hero of the village." A kind woman opened the door to see a teenage, pink-haired boy slip off the hood of his cloak.

"Ahem!?" Naruto looked expectantly at her, sweating from carrying the heavy bag of toys they had bought from the gold.

The woman smiled at the younger boy. "And his brave little friend."

A man came up from behind the woman and put a loving arm around her shoulder. He laughed a warm, joyous bellow. "Robin! It's been a while!"

Sakura looked up at the man. She smiled politely. "Indeed it has, Asuma-san. May we come in?"

He friendlily punched her in the arm. "No need to be polite! You know you're invited here anytime!"

They walked through the hallway of the small house. Naruto trailed behind as he muttered. "Hmph...little...I'll show them..."

Sakura looked around. Other than her home in the forest, this was the place she stayed the most; here in the orphanage. Asuma-san and Kurenai-san ran the orphanage together. They fed both Naruto and her when they ran out of food. And Kurenai-san would always find the time to make them clothes. The couple was the only two who would truly contribute and help Sakura and Naruto. The orphanage was like their second home.

"The children have all been asking about your next visit. You're like an older brother to them." Kurenai-san said in a motherly voice.

Sakura smiled. Kurenai-san was equivalent to a mother for her. She was kind and she was good at so many things.

"Yay! You're here!" A young girl threw herself into Sakura's arms.

Sakura looked down and saw that she was holding a young girl with two huge, carrot-colored pigtails, and the youngest of the seven that lived here. She smiled warmly, "Hello Moegi."

"Um...Hey...Do you have another book for me this time?" A boy sniffled. He had large glasses, and his voice always sounded like he had a cold.

All seven surrounded her and she laughed. "Okay, okay. Don't worry! I have stuff for everyone!" She looked back at Naruto, he grumbled as he passed them out.

She ignored it, since all the smiles on the younger childrens' faces were all so grateful. She had always left out one thing about why she would steal from the soldiers: the faces of the villagers every time she would return to them with gifts. It was their smiling faces that showed a break from worrying about poverty, their thankful eyes directed at her. It made her warm inside, and she loved it.

"Robin, you're the best." A short-haired blonde shyly said.

Robin. That's what all the villagers called her. That's who she was known as. Nobody really knew her real name, nor did they know that she was really a girl. But she was a hero to them, and nothing else.

Robin. They had given her that name because of the way she would look when she fought soldiers bravely in the sun. How her cape fluttered like a robin's wings. And her clothes amber-brown like a robin's crest.

But it was mostly because how robins- like all birds- could fly.

And flying meant hope.

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A/N: This chapter was mostly about Sakura. And eventually, the orphanage plays a huge role in the story. You'll soon learn all the names of the orphans, they're all real characters borrowed from the anime.

**The story switches from views of Sakura and Sasuke. Or the "King" and "Robin Hood."**

**R&R! I think that means Review and Respond? or Rate? I dunno. But comment anyway!**


	5. Uncertainty

**Chapter 5: Hiding Uncertainty**

_You once said you loved me because I had a true identity. I knew who I was. I had that one thing I owned permanently, without a waver, without a doubt. I would be my name. And that's what I would always be._

_But would you still love me, if I had said, that what you said was false?_

_For, allow me to wonder this, for it followed me like my own shadow, trailing me even in the warmest and brightest of lights: Who am I?_

_For my name. It is only letters of ink._

_When I look in the mirror. It's true, I see me, my name. But what else do I see? What else that makes my true identity?_

_Names are only the short words that describe all the many fragments we are. They are the things that wrap up everything so we don't have to describe each other as millions of words, the millions of words that we are. _

_In that case. Your name would be an infinite amount of things to me: that warm smile, laughing eyes, giving heart..._

_But me. I don't know what my name describes. When I write this name, I think of it as an empty shell. _

_Before I met you, I had never thought about it. It had never mattered. But when I met you, and you spoke those words to me, I began to think. And I began to realize that being with you made me a better person. That when I was with you, I was a good guy, the knight of a fairy tale._

_But then I thought again. And I noticed that I had always thought I was good. For before I met you, I thought I was good as the person I was, without you. But when I looked back, I realized I was bad._

_And now, I think both myself in the past were wrong. _

_So what is my identity?_

_You were wrong. I didn't have a real identity. In truth, the only time I thought I knew my identity, the meaning of my name, was when you were by my side. _

_And now that you're gone._

_I don't know who I am anymore._

_--_

"Men, this is Sasuke-denka. He'll be leading this investigation from now on."

The soldiers bowed their heads in respect, all lined up orderly by a wall as he walked past them.

He noticed some of them waver as his shadow overcast their bodies. He wasn't really paying attention to how strongly-built they were. To him, it really didn't matter. He thought that a troop's efficiency and success was not due to the soldiers, but due to the leader. So the soldiers didn't matter to him. No matter what, they would do superiorly as long as he was the leader.

The troop's room had a meeting table at the very center of the room. Sasuke went to the scroll hung up with the map of the village, showing the plans of capture.

He looked at it, and once again, he found himself not paying attention.

He was thinking about those green eyes. With the moonlight shining into them, dancing purity in the midst of a world of spring. And just in a pair of eyes...

He told himself not to think about it, like what he had been doing since the day he arrived. He shouldn't be thinking about him. Not in that way.

Not as someone he knew. Not as a friend.

Somehow, that shadow...he felt close to him. Like he _knew _him.

He grew frustrated thinking about it and rubbed his head in annoyance.

"Sasuke-denka, are you well?" His uncle, who constantly followed behind him, asked.

He walked out the room; "I'm retiring to my room now."

His uncle bowed, "Of course Sasuke-denka. You must be tired after all the hearings today." Before he could leave, he asked. "I take it that they are my responsibility for the rest of the day now?"

Sasuke stopped. Somehow, he heard an awkward edge to his uncle's voice. It seemed malevolent and power-thirsty. But he ignored it. It must have been in his head. "Do as you wish."

And he left.

--

He was sitting on his bed, watching the small flame of the candle eat the wax away, when he heard a knock from the large wooden door. It interrupted his thoughts, something that he didn't like to happen. He called out, irritated.

"Come in."

It was his uncle. He came in and gave a respectable bow. Sasuke always found that his uncle's bow was different from the others of the royal court. While others bowed with value and loyalty to him, his uncle seemed to have bowed with dignity and arrogance for himself.

"Well, what is it?" Despite he was his highly regarded uncle, he was still underneath him in the heir archery, and he had to make sure that his uncle knew that.

"I have come to report the status of your troops as of this evening." He bowed. "I have ordered them to switch strategies and begin finding villagers who have current close connections with the Robin Hood."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. And his uncle had just decided to tell him now? Without asking for his permission before issuing the order? It was a decent idea, however. So he let it go. His uncle had experience with this anyway.

His uncle continued. "I have also issued a new law to villagers warning that those who are found assisting the Robin Hood in any way will have severe punishment that shall be decided by the royal council."

Sasuke didn't say anything as he signed the law written on the parchment. He felt odd, signing it without really being the one who thought of it. But he told himself that he still had order over it since he was the one that had to sign it.

"Is that all?"

His uncle stood up straight, with power. "Yes."

"Then you may leave."

--

The village was disgusting.

That was his first thought, as he rode on his white stallion down the dirty, stony pave way and ignored all the petty villagers that stopped from their pathetic work to look at him.

The houses were poorly built of stone held by mud, and the stalls were made of rotting wood. The roofs were thatched with thin hay, stinking along with the horses that carried carts of little items.

It was obvious that the village was poor; he felt a twinge of sympathy for them as he met faces with some of the young children sleeping on the cold ground. But he reminded himself that they were mere villagers, and peasants should not matter to such a person like him.

He heard the whispers that carried about him.

"It's the new king..."

"It's him..."

He and the bodyguards flanking him went to the village square. He trotted his horse in front of the fountain and got off. He read the parchment to the villagers crowding around curiously.

"From now on, it is your duty to report the man causing all this damage to the palace! It is your duty not to help this 'Robin Hood' figure and send him to us! If any are found with this rogue, feeding him, or providing him shelter, it shall be death by hanging!"

He allowed his voice to echo. The villagers mumbled and then began to chatter louder and louder in outrage and fear.

He left them like that. It was no longer his problem. With the law he had just announced, he doubted that any of them would have the bravery to help the Robin Hood any longer. He wasn't really planning on killing any one that did help him. He thought he wouldn't have to.

"Hey you! Money bags!" Sasuke turned, he couldn't find anyone. Then he looked down and realized the young, arrogant voice came from a mere child. His eyes were determined as he said disdainfully, "You can make all the stupid rules you want, but that will never stop Robin!"

Sasuke coolly looked down at him. Stupid, head-strong child, not knowing when to respect those above him. Before he could do anything, a woman with curly black hair and crimson eyes came and bowed.

"Please, denka, the child doesn't know what he's saying." She tried ushering him away, but the boy wouldn't budge.

"No way! I'm not letting this jerk get away with this." The young boy struggled as he glared at Sasuke's cool gray eyes. "We love Robin no matter what! And you won't stop him!"

"Konohamaru!" The woman scolded.

Sasuke noticed the fear hidden in her crimson eyes, and just a hint of defiance. The fear in her eyes, he felt a prick of guilt. For if he was the cause of this woman's uneasiness, did everyone feel this way about him? Did they hate him so?

He wanted the feeling to go away. He told himself he shouldn't care. The villagers' meant nothing to him, and so should their opinions. So he started to trot the horse away from the village. But before he could, he heard his uncle's voice order.

"Take this woman and her child under hostage, and find the rest of her family as well! Search their house as well!"

He turned to the soldiers acting under his uncle's command, roughly grabbing the struggling woman and the frightened child.

The woman was brought down to her knees by the soldiers. She looked up pleadingly, "Please! The child didn't mean what he said! He doesn't know anything! My family is innocent!"

Sasuke saw the faint, twisted smile on his uncle's face as he said coolly. "Well then. If your family is innocent, then there should be no harm in investigating your house now, should there?"

The woman's crimson eyes looked worried yet flashed with a look of hatred.

Sasuke rushed back. He didn't want this. By the look of his uncle's smile and his cool tone, he knew he was planning something that would hurt the villagers. He felt that it was unnecessary, making them so frightened.

He hid his anxiousness and quietly said to his uncle, "What are you doing?"

His uncle turned to him. Sasuke saw his face. It was dark and smug with power, dignity. "Ah, Sasuke-denka. You are too soft." Then he looked down at the woman in disgust, as if she was an insect. "These villagers are nothing but peasants. They'll lie, cheat, and disobey at all means. You should never trust them. They are dirty and should be punished whenever it is possible."

Sasuke looked at the woman. Was it true? She looked- all the villagers looked- fine to him. But he trusted his uncle. He was probably right, he had more experience, and much more dignity than he did. He remained silent, allowing his uncle to continue with his orders.

"Get off my wife, you goddamned cowards!" A man pushed through the crowd. He tried knocking the soldiers away, but there were too many. They held him back and caught him as well.

His uncle looked amused at the whole scene. As if it was all a show to him. Was it really that entertaining? Sasuke didn't know. He felt his insides twist at the whole thing. Maybe he was just weak.

His uncle gave an icy smile at the man. "And who are you?"

"None of your business, old man. Just let my wife go-

They beat him in the face with the bottom on their swords. He spat blood. Sasuke looked at his uncle again for help on what reaction he should have. He didn't know.

It looked like his uncle was expressionless. He showed no pity.

One of the soldiers called out. "He's Sarutobi Asuma. He runs the orphanage with Yuhi Kurenai."

"You bastards." He said, his voice violent.

Sasuke's uncle only smiled pleasantly with a hint of coldness. "Well then, we'll see how innocent your household is, won't we? Or are you innocent enough to swear on the childrens' lives?"

Another group of soldiers hoarded a six more children to join the first boy, all crying in confusion. The woman looked anxiously at his uncle, desperate. "Please, leave the children out of this!"

Sasuke saw the look on his uncle's face. It was dark and grinning of authority. It seemed cruel as he said.

"Take them all away."

**

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A/N: Thanks for all your comments! They really lifted my spirits up!

**And hehe, thanks to some of you, I now know what R&R means! Thanks!**

**One note: I usually update once every week, usually on Fridays or the weekends. But this upcoming week, I might not. I have midterms coming up soon, and being an 8****th**** grader taking High school math really puts me at a disadvantage...**

**Keep up the comments! I'm really glad that you all like this fanfic! **


	6. Heartless

**Chapter 6: Heartless**

_Sometimes, when you wanted to make me laugh or smile, you would tease me- call me expressionless. _

_Expressionless._

_I knew you were joking, but was it really true?_

_Was I really...expressionless?_

_I've read the definition up before, I know what it means. It means to have no feelings, no feelings for anyone or anything. _

_It means to have no heart._

_Maybe you were joking then, but did you honestly believe it before we met? Did you think that I was cold? Heartless?_

_I don't even know myself. But I don't want it to be true._

_Yet, I don't know why. For if I were expressionless, it would be so much easier to live. Life would be so simple. And simplicity...you could not go wrong with simplicity._

_For if I had no heart, I would not be able to hurt._

_And I could not feel pain, then this feeling I have right now, buried inside of me...it wouldn't exist._

_The loss of you wouldn't hurt me._

--

"Oi! Sakura! Sakura! Get up!"

She heard his voice faintly from the back of her mind. It was obvious who it was. But she wanted to sleep more. Her blankets were too warm.

"Sakura!"

"Mmm...But I want to sleep more..."

She ignored the pushing and shoving on her back. Maybe if she pretended to be back asleep, he would go away and leave her to dream more...

"Asuma and Kurenai are being kept prisoners in the palace!"

She threw off her covers and suddenly she heard the worry and anger in Naruto's voice. She stared into his blue eyes in shocked rage. "What?!"

"They found out that they were helping us and now they're punishing them!"

She couldn't believe it. "Wha- How? Why?!"

Naruto rambled on. "They made a new law about anyone found helping us would be punished by the council."

"And? Did the council decide?"

"No. I just went around the town, and there're too any rumors. The only thing they know is that their decision would be carried out tomorrow."

Sakura got up and started changing into her boy's clothing. She put on her wig and got up on her horse. Without saying a word, she headed towards the village.

Naruto scrambled and got on to his horse. "Hey! Wait up! Where are you going?"

Sakura replied in a tone she knew was cold from fury.

"To the palace. We need plans for breaking in tonight."

--

She pulled on the hood of her cape, letting the shadow fall over her, hiding her from the light of the pale moon. Her arrows were already strung across her back, along with her bow, and her sword was tied to a sash along her waist.

Her green eyes flashed from the darkness that overcast her face.

She was no longer Sakura.

She was Robin Hood.

Her companion pulled over the hood on his black cape as well. He rode on horseback, following her brown mare as they made their way to the palace that towered above them.

She looked up at the huge stone mansion with cold, angry green eyes as she got off her mare and hid behind the tall trees. She looked at Naruto, he was ready as well.

They had spent daylight planning on this attack. And this time, she brought him with her, because she knew that this mission was one they couldn't fail.

She climbed up one of the trees and then took a graceful leap to land on the stone windowsill of the prisoner's towers. She nimbly walked across the dark room, making sure not to create a single sound that could wake the guards from their sleep.

Her hand touched the knob on the wooden door and pulled it slowly open. It made a dull creak, but all the same, it shattered the silence. Her head snapped back anxiously. Had the guards heard?

She inwardly sighed in relief. They were still sound asleep.

Usually, she would laugh mockingly at them, or just wake them up or the fun of stirring up trouble. But today was different.

As the sickly light of the palace seeped in from the door, the yellow light paled over one of the sleeping guards. She looked at the man in disgust.

This was a person living without a thought that he was taking a part of starving many people. Weak. Uncaring. Disgusting. She felt a rising hatred for the sleeping men that she stood in front of, her hands trembled. How easy would it be just to end their lives in this one moment...

She looked away and took off, walking silently down the hallway. She reached the end and found the flight of gray stairs, spiraling down to what seemed like pit-less black.

She headed down. It felt as if she had taken an infinite amount of steps before her foot touched the very bottom.

It was all darkness.

She looked around; all she could see were faint silhouettes, veiled by black. A chill crept up her spine. All these people were most likely innocent...their only crime was their king's arrogance.

She clenched her fist and strode silently down the hall of misery. Leaks from the ceiling fell to the ground, pinging off cold, dirty grounds with an empty echo. Her heart felt drowned under sympathy and anger.

All shared the same emptiness inside. Hope no longer showed light in their vision.

And it was all _his _fault. This was what he had brought upon his very own people. This was how he ruled.

He did not deserve to rule.

She heard a small whimper from the end of the stone tunnel. She recognized that wavering voice, despite its unfamiliarity in fear.

She raced forward, not being able to see, but hoping to reach the end soon.

She could bring hope back to this village. One step at a time...

"Robin?" A fragile girl asked. Her shadow walked closer to the bars, clutching them as she tried to look through. "Is that you?"

Behind her, six other children stirred from their nightmares. A baby's whine started up.

She put a finger to her lips, trying to comfort them as she felt the tears well up in all of their eyes. It would make everything more dangerous and difficult if the guards woke up. "Shh...Shh... It's fine, I'm here now."

"See! I told you Robin would come! He can save anyone!" The oldest boy said gruffly, but it was obvious that he had cried before since he was wiping his nose.

"Where are Kurenai-san and Asuma-san?" She whispered.

The girl in orangey pigtails whimpered, "They took them upstairs somewhere..."

Sakura bit back a scowl. Of course the king just had to make everything more difficult. Maybe once she found Kurenai-san and Asuma-san, she could end this once and for all...

Like all the locks in the castle, the one that held in the children was easy for Sakura to pick open as well. The bars swung open with an ancient creak as the children rushed to her for a hug.

She beckoned them to follow her silently. They obeyed, as they made their way past the slacking guards and up the stairs once more. She knew that they plan was to return to Naruto outside with all of them, but now she was missing two.

There were too many rooms in the castle, she tried searching through all of them while staying as safe as possible.

At the corner of her eye, she noticed a shadow approaching her. She whipped around and unsheathed her sword.

The blade was blocked by a sturdy dagger, wielded by Naruto.

"What are you doing here!?" She whispered her surprise.

"You were taking too long!" He whispered back. The blue in his eyes wavered in worry and relief.

Sakura sighed. She didn't mind him being here instead. It was comforting to know that he wasn't being chased by soldiers. Now that he was with her, he was safer.

They dashed through hallways, and then stopped when they reached the end of one hallway. Unlike others, this one wasn't a dead end. Instead, there was a huge door royally jeweled of rubies and onyx.

Sakura peeked through the tiny crevice that a slit of light crept past. Inside was a vast room of pearl-white tiles.

"Where is the Robin Hood?"

At that very cold voice, Sakura clenched her teeth.

There was no response.

The voice, belonging to the king's uncle, said in a false, heartless tone. "Reply when told you when commanded by your king."

Sakura seethed in silence as the voice from the room was smug and ignorant. She saw Asuma-san look up from the ground and glare towards the throne.

"I don't know."

Suddenly, a crash resounded as Asuma-san bent over from a blow. Sakura flinched when he looked back up at the man with long hair and blood-red eyes with determination, blood dripping down his forehead.

"Don't lie to me." The man looked down at Asuma. Asuma panted from the hurt as Kurenai clutched him in comfort and fear. "We already know you've been helping him."

Asuma didn't argue.

"You are aware, that it is treason to go against your king...don't you?" The man said in a dripping tone of mock. Sakura struggled to stay still.

"What's the use?"

The advisor's head snapped around to look at him with a face threatening to find any excuse to torture him more. "Excuse me?"

"I said, what's the use? What kind of king ignores his own people and lets them suffer. He's not a king at all." Asuma said stronger, with eyes that dared the advisor to hurt him again. "Do you want to know why we help the Robin Hood instead of listening to you bastards?"

Sakura silently begged for him not to say anymore. She knew that his words of spirit could hurt him even more. And each of his wounds would be from defending her. Her fault.

"It's because he cares about us. He cares about other people beside himself. Unlike your so-called king here." He spat.

Se sucked in her breath. The silence seemed menacing for what the cold-hearted man would do next.

"This is the reason why the villagers must be punished, Sasuke-denka. They are rowdy, disgusting, and disrespectful. Their hearts possess nothing but thoughts of treason." He tilted his nose higher to Asuma as he spoke to the shadow on the throne. "This Robin Hood figure has been causing a rebellion, and we must stop it while we can." His eyes gleamed like blood dripping in pale moonlight as he gave a faint but sickly smile.

"If we show the villagers the suffering that shall bestow them if they are caught with their treasonous acts, then they will surely never dare to defy us again." His voice was of sharpened silk as he smiled even wider.

"Your punishment is settled. Tomorrow morning, you two are to be hung in the town square, where every villager is to be made sure to see your death. And where the Robin Hood will surely not be able to save you." His teeth shone in the wickedness of his grin.

"No! Kurenai-ka-chan!" The young girl shrieked as she burst through the doors in tears.

"Shit! Robin, we have to act!" Naruto gritted as the guards wasted no time to attack after staying stationary by the walls.

"Make sure he doesn't get the prisoners!" Uchiha Madara commanded.

They yanked Kurenai and Asuma back into ravels of chains, taking no chance to allow them to be rescued.

"No! No! Moegi-chan!" Kurenai called out, trying to comfort the sobbing child by reaching thought the spears that cornered her.

"Kurenai-ka-chan!" The girl stumbled over. But the soldiers held the girl back. She shrieked and tried kicking them, but it was no use. "Kurenai-ka-chan!"

"Moegi-chan!" Kurenai seemed just as desperate for the young girl's touch. She turned to the shadow. "Please...the children...who will take care of them?"

The figure only watched in silence.

Sakura darted through the confusion, knocking the guards out of the way. She looked back; more armed men were rapidly approaching at the door. No, she couldn't leave. She needed to save Kurenai-san and Asuma-san. She couldn't let them die. She was Robin Hood. A hero. And heroes never let anyone die.

Sweat formed on her brow. She struck her sword furiously about. But she was no nearer to them and loosing strength fast. The men began to surround her, towering over her. The shrieks of the children thumped in her ear, underneath the screeching of steel.

But she couldn't give up.

Never.

Even if she couldn't count the number of soldiers anymore. Even if her strikes could not cut through their armor. Even if her sight was starting to blur and her breath was beginning to shallow...

Maybe...

She could still win somehow...

"Robin!"

She looked thought the nettle of swords and saw Naruto, trying to ward off blades from the children. His blue eyes looked into hers. And then she saw the agony of defeat in his eyes as he cried out desperately. "It's no use, we...we have to retreat."

The realization stung her. It _was _no use. There were too many of them. She looked back at the trembling children...if she continued, they could die as well. And if she were defeated with them, what would happen to the village?

She couldn't do both. She had to make a choice...

She held back the tears that blurred her eyes as she tore herself away from the battle. She grabbed the children along with Naruto and jumped through the window into the darkness of the forest. Her head turned to take in one last glance at Asuma-san and Kurenai-san before leaving the cries and shots of violence.

Leaving Asuma-san and Kurenai-san behind.

--

"Today you are witnessing the punishment of two souls poisoned by treason and hate!" The voice of Uchiha Madara echoed in the village square.

He stood with cold-hearted pride on the platform, next to Asuma-san and Kurenai-san. But that wasn't what the villagers saw. What their eyes followed were the thick ropes that were knotted around their necks like snakes. Yet still, the two faced the crowd in voiceless yet noticeable dignity.

The cobbled streets were crowded with villagers. All silent, or quietly sobbing. Each person held on to their spouse or children fro comfort. Protection from the sorrow of the dawn air. Yet it was no use, the scene in front of them was all too real of a nightmare.

There was only one figure who did not cling to anyone or look at the two victims in sorrow. That was the hooded figure. A girl with her pink hair hidden under red cloth. Yet if someone could see beneath the shadows overcastting her eyes, they would see that the green in them were cold with shame. Instead, Sakura only looked down at the ground in shame.

"Do not pity these two. For they have attempted to foolishly defy the King!" He said cruelly. "Let this be a lesson to all! Betrayal will not be taken lightly!" He walked over to Asuma with vanity pasted over his thin lips. "Any last words?"

It was all her fault. Her foolishness. He recklessness. She had been so careless, and now they very two people that had been brave enough to help her were paying for it. The guilt knawed at her stomach.

The fire in Asuma's eyes met the red in the advisor's eyes. "You will never be able to kill the Robin Hood. And you'll never kill the hope he's given us."

Hope? What hope? This was death. This was all she had brought to this village. What sort of hope ended a life? She tried facing her failure, looking up. She deserved to feel more hurt than she did right now. She needed to feel more hurt than what Kurenai-san and Asuma-san were feeling right now.

All she wanted was fun with the soldiers, fighting. She had never given a thought about the consequences. Maybe she was just like the king. She didn't care about anyone else but herself. And she had even promised the people happiness. She had lied.

Maybe she was even worse than the king.

"It's a pity then, that you shall never see the outcome." Madara whispered with a smug smile into Asuma's face.

He raised his hand, signaling the man with the rope his hands

The plateform under Kurenai and Asuma's feet snapped under with a crack, stirring up the dust. Birds flew into the sky, frightened by the sudden splinter of noise.

Their bodies loosened. The necks limping under weight as their heads lolled to the side.

They slipped from the noose and collapsed to the ground.

A tear squeezed out from the corner of one her eyes. Then another...her eyelashes grew heavier, and soon, she was looking down again, with not tears pouring down her cheeks. The blood she bit from her lip tasted bitter on her tongue.

In the end, she still wasn't strong enough to watch them go. To face defeat.

She kept on thinking...there was no more second chance for this. They were gone. And she couldn't save them. She only watched.

Helpless.

The muscles in her arms knotted tightly, she didn't realize how stiff she was from tightening fists until she felt a small tug at her sleeve.

She looked down to find little Moegi, asking in her innocent voice:

"When are Kurenai-ka-san and Asuma-to-chan going to wake up?"

**

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A/N: Sorry for the break. It's been pretty stressful lately. Next week is my math competition, so I'm expecting it to start back up regularly next, next week (no promises though).

**Ka-chan and To-chan are short, more childish names for Mother and Father.**

**Surprisingly enough...I have nothing else to babble about. Shock. I must be really tired...**

**At least I can still say this:**

**COMMENT!!!!!!! (That mean's I'm not **_**that **_**sick. Haha)**


	7. Forgiveness

**Chapter 7: Forgiveness**

_If you can see the village right now, you'll hear me be called a hero._

_Can you believe it?_

_If you were still here with them...I can hear you agree. With hands on your hips and with a finger tap on my forehead, I can see you scold me for my modesty. _

_And I would- and still- ask: Is it modesty if it's true?_

_Is it modesty if it's true that I was the cause for the death of the innocent? Is it modesty if it's true that I was the monster who heartlessly watched my villagers cry, starve, then die? _

_Is it modesty if it's true that if I'd never met you.._

_you wouldn't be gone right now?_

_But now that you're an angel...maybe, you can tell me the truth._

_Although, a person with a heart poisoned of so any sins like me doesn't deserve the guidance from an angel like you._

_But why?_

_Why did they forgive me? How could they forgive me? Me, who abandoned them. Me, who let them live in years of pain. Me, who not only killed their loved ones and hope..._

_But killed their heroine as well._

_Yet, that is not what keeps me awake at night. Their forgiveness means nothing compared to yours._

_I was the one who came into your life, cursed it, twisted it more than it already was. Without me, all of the pain you went to would never had happened. _

_Without me, you'd still be here._

_How can you possibly forgive me?_

--

A shudder snaked up her spine. It was still cold, despite the blanket that was wrapped around her. The fire that lit a golden aura around it did nothing to warm her. It was a blur...it seemed all dark, yet vacant all at once.

Sakura's blank stare worried Naruto, but she did nothing to show that she was aware of it. Instead, her dull green eyes seemed to see through the fire...see nothing.

What did he think of her now? Could he look at her, know what she's done...and still call her a friend, a person to look up to? Would Naruto think of her as a fake?

She thought she could save the village...she really thought she could...

But it was all just a dream that would never happen. Because she was reckless, thoughtless.

How could she be so stupid?

She shut her eyes. She wanted so much to hurt herself so she could feel the pain that Kurenai-san and Asuma-san felt today...but she didn't at the same time, and she hated herself for it. She shuddered in her disgust.

"So...what happens now?" The second oldest orphan named Rin, a thin girl with cropped red-brown hair and concerned hazel eyes, asked. She cradled baby Kiba in her arms. He snuggled deeper into his blanket and continued to sleep.

"What do you mean?" Moegi, the youngest girl of five years with large orange ponytails, asked with huge, naive eyes. She smiled sweetly with an expression that said: you-guys are-all-so-silly. "We just wait for Kurenai-oka-chan and Asum-oto-chan to wake up again!"

Faraway in the back of her head, a splash of ice water stung Sakura: Moegi didn't know yet.

Moegi's immaturity irritated Tsunade. The oldest girl sprung up with clenched teeth and fists. She gritted, trying to keep her anger in control, "They're not coming back, okay Moegi?"

Moegi tilted her head. "Of course they are!"

Tsunade couldn't take it anymore, "Don't you get it Moegi? They're dead, gone, okay??!! We're all alone now!" She yelled, her breath heavy. Her body tensed as it rattled in silence from rage that hid her heartache.

Moegi's lip trembled. "No...no they're not...you're lying. Liar." She whimpered.

Tsunade didn't say anything. Instead, the oldest orphan, Konohamaru, spoke. "She's not Moegi. Asuma-san and Kurenai-san are dead. And you know why?" His voice low with accusation. He pointed at Sakura.

"It's because of her."

She didn't say anything. What could she say? No words could put the pain of guilt she felt. She deserved his sharp words and didn't defend herself.

But Konohamaru wasn't finished. "Are you done playing hero now? I hope you are, because of you, they're dead! You let us think you could save us, and instead, we're dying even more! It's all your fault!"

"What? Do you think you're too good for us?" Her silence and unwillingness to guard herself angered him even more. He grabbed her and pulled off her hood.

"Talk, you-

He stopped midway when he realized he was grabbing a pink haired girl by the collar. He backed away. "What the..."

Then, everything registered. He whispered. "A girl...all this time...you were lying. You're kidding, right?" He laughed with a tone of deliria to try to rid the fury, "All this time we were being lied to by a freakin' girl?!? You've managed to fool us the whole damn time!

"You fooled us into thinking that you were a man, you fooled us into thinking that you could save us, you fooled us into thinking that you were a hero...

"When all you are is a goddamned fake!"

She felt her body collapse to the ground. His last words were knives that hurt more than any sword. It felt like it pierced closer to her heart, if not, then right through it. The throbbing from his voice turned her numb like poison. But she accepted it all.

She heard a slam, and through hazy eyes, she saw Naruto with a grip on Konohamaru's collar, pinning him with a strong arm to a tree.

"Don't you dare!" She heard her friend growl.

Konohamaru didn't struggle; he met Naruto's lightning blue eyes with a bark. "She's fooled you too? Open your eyes! It's been years since she's promised us freedom! And look at us now, _nothing's _changed. She's saved _no one_."

"Shut up!" Naruto slammed him into the trunk again. His voice fell to a threatening whisper, "Don't you dare talk like that about Sakura!

"Do you know how I used to live? I was a servant in the damned palace. My parent's were killed by the king, and I'd be beaten every single day, doing everything they told me too. It was like having no life. God, you have no clue what it was like, living day and night for someone else!

"And you know what? If Sakura didn't come, I'd be freakin' dead! I would've died because that stupid man grew bored of me!

"Sakura is my best friend, she saved my life!"

Naruto looked away, squeezing his eyes shut to hide the tears. "She risked her life to save me. She could've died trying to get me out. She could've just let me go, but she didn't!

"She gave up her own damned freedom for yours, you idiot! So don't you dare say that she hasn't been saving this village!

"Because she's the one who's kept this village hopeful all this time! Aren't you even grateful one bit for that?

"She's not a fake, she's not a liar. She promised to save this village,"

He blinked away the tears and met Konohamaru's eyes with confidence,

"And she will."

He let go of the younger boy, leaving him in silence.

--

"Finally got those brats to sleep." Naruto grumbled as he sat across Sakura by the fire.

Sakura still stayed silent, with her hood off, she covered herself in the blanket. The fire danced in her green eyes.

"You didn't have to do that."

"Do what?" Naruto asked.

"Lie. For me." Her voice unsuitingly flat.

"It's not a lie, Sakura." He looked down. His face was blushed and he smiled slightly from the memories. "You saved my life. I'm alive right not because of you. I...I really believe you can save this place, just like you saved me." He looked her in the eye.

Surprise flickered across her face. But it was comforting, his words. She looked down and tried to express her thoughts, "I couldn't save them...after all they did for me..."

"But you have to stay alive," Naruto gently comforted her, "you're the hope of this village. Besides," His eyes shone with certainty, "Asuma and Kurenai died with pride."

"But all this...how many more have to die before this is all done? To much..." she whispered.

She couldn't give up, this village was her home. She was raised here; she loved this place, even with her muddled- unknown- past. Every villager, everything in the village was a part of her that she couldn't let die.

Maybe, she could end this another way. A way without blood...

Maybe.

She got up and pulled out a dusty trunk- the only momento of her mysterious past. She blew off the dust from her past belongings and pushed away the dolls and brushes to reveal an old, but unused gown. She changed, becoming not Robin Hood, but Sakura- a stranger she did not know even herself.

"Where are you going?" Naruto asked, watching the young woman walk away.

"I'm going to try to end this another way.

"Without hurt."

**

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**

A/N: Hi everyone! I'm ba-ack! Miss me? Maybe not, but oh well. I think I'm finally getting back on track again! I hope all of you fans are still reading! If not, then...poo.

**I guess I should just tell you all the orphans in order from oldest to youngest. They're not rate in ratio from the real show, but oh well, I just wanted characters from Naruto that fit the personalities I wanted:**

**Konohamaru: 11 years**

**Tsunade: 10 years**

**Rin: 9 years**

**Udon: 8 years**

**Chouji: 7 years**

**Moegi: 5 years**

**Kiba: 11 months**

**Some of them weren't introduced, but they will be. They don't play a huge roll (well, some of them at least). But I figured you guys might as well know them anyway!!!**

**Note: Whoops, I wrote "Rin" as "Kin" in the text, sorry. I changed it. That's Rin everyone, from the Kakashi Gaiden. I also made the mistake of calling her blonde (I thought she was...) but I believe it's redish-brown. Sorry.**

**Comment please! I love them all! Write your hate, love, anything!!!!**


	8. Sight

**Chapter 8: Sight**

_I never believed in love at first sight- I never even believed in love. How could you possibly treasure someone so closely- closer than your very self- and even more, know that you cared for them the very moment you see them?_

_How could cherish the life of a stranger?_

_Love is all but a trap that everyone wishes to fall into, oblivious that once it has you in it's grasp...reality no longer exists. That's what happened to me. _

_I fell in love with you._

_The sight of you..._

_The feeling was indescribable, but if I try to put it in words, you'll understand- right?_

_Did you feel the same thing?_

_Did you become blinded too?_

_I forgot that in this world, there was imperfection. I forgot that I- we-were mortal. I forgot about everything..._

_Except you. Us._

_I thought we could be together. I thought the comforting feeling of infinity could last, that nothing could happen to us. I thought pain would never exist again._

_I could never have been more wrong._

--

"The execution went well, Sasuke-denka." Madara Uchiha reported before his nephew the King, who sat before him on the throne.

Sasuke took no notice that his advisor forgot to bow and only inquired. "I assume things went well without my presence?"

He thought that executions needed the attendance of a king. He recalled that, from his childhood, that his father and brother watched death sentences for ownership of their order- their laws and control. However, his uncle suggested him to stay in the palace.

"Surely a king like you shouldn't have to waste your time seeing the sinful tears of mere peasants. Staying here in the palaces is much more suiting, Sasuke-denka." his uncle replied smoothly. Sasuke chose not to question his uncle any further. He decided that because he had advised both his older brother and his father before him, he knew best.

He stood up and walked down the red-carpeted steps that led to the royal floor of the ballroom. He passed by his uncle, "My work here is done; I have listened to all requests from the other Houses."

He was about to step out of the ballroom when his uncle replied. "Very well Sasuke, it has been a long day indeed, and you may retire to your chamber. But first, let us have a toast." He beckoned a servant over and took a glass of wine gracefully between his fingers.

Sasuke had no choice but to take the other as his uncle held up the jeweled glass. The red wine swirled, matching the scarlet of his uncle's eyes as they met his coal eyes. He felt a slither of coldness against his skin- warning him. He chose to ignore it.

Once he finished, he heard his uncle mention. "Once you feel refreshed, I can send your clothes for tonight. We must find you something suitable for the ball."

Sasuke froze, "Ball?"

"Why of course. You're soon to be seventeen, Sasuke-denka. It's about time we find you a fitting candidate for the queen."

--

He didn't want a wife.

The thoughts ran through his head as he gave an icy stare to his reflection in his mirror. The young man looking back at him was dressed in a dark blue cloth and cape. But if he looked closer, he saw something that he didn't want to see.

That young man didn't look like him.

But he was meant to be a ruler. So why did something feel so wrong?

He brushed the thoughts aside and focused on his annoyance about the ball.

He never had expected to marry. Marriage never appealed to him as an important topic. Why would having a girl by his side help his rule? All the daughters of the noble Houses were ditzy and needy, caring nothing for useless things like fashion.

He understood that a king's marriage was for political relationships and treaties, never for love. Never. Especially for him.

He didn't believe in such a thing.

Yet his thoughts wandered.

What would it feel like...?

A knock interrupted him. He walked away from the mirror, leaving his uncomfortable reflection. He didn't want anyone to discover his insecurity. "What?" He called, masking his irritation.

"Madara-sama invites you to come down to the foyer. The Hyuuga House has arrived." A servant called from the closed doors.

When he walked down the long stairway, he saw his uncle greeting an esteemed man with gray eyes and long black hair. They met eyes.

"Ah, Hyuuga-dono, this is Sasuke-denka, Uchiha Mikoto and Uchiha Fugaku-denka's son. He's the new head of the Uchiha house. Sasuke-denka, this is Hyuuga Hiashi-dono, head of the Hyuuga House, one of the closest houses to ours."

Hyuuga Hiashi gave a deep, gracious bow below him. "It is an honor to meet you, Sasuke-denka."

Sasuke looked down and then noticed the two people behind him: one a girl with similar features and another a boy about his age with long hair as well.

"May I introduce you to my children, Hinata and Neji. Neji is our house's heir."

Neji gave a short bow. "Pleased to meet you. If I may mention, I wish you good luck on your search for a wife."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Neji's attempt at hiding a smirk. Yet he was irritated, did his uncle tell this to everyone?

Before they could say anymore, another carriage pulled up in the dark. The two leaders of the houses went to greet the guests while the daughter of the Hyuuga House trailed behind.

"You haven't really changed." Neji dropped the polite tone, yet he still appeared to be genuinely friendly.

Sasuke silently raised an eyebrow.

"We used to study and play together when we were younger, before you were sent to boarding school." He explained.

Sasuke recalled only a little bit. He remembered he and Neji were close. He gave a small smirk, "Like old times then."

Neji frowned, and a look of faint melancholy flickered over his face as he shook his head.

"No, everything else here's changed since you're father the king died."

--

The ballroom became packed quickly. Sasuke knew that his only duty during the ball was to chat with dukes and lords, to try to make political connections. None of the ball was truly for leisure. Luckily, Neji was by his side, so he wasn't as bored.

Neji quickly became a close companion over the next few hours. He was calm and kind in a somewhat reassuring matter. His sarcastic humor relieved him of all the seriousness.

"Oh my! You've grown so much Sasuke-denka!" A fat noble woman cooed. "I'm sure you'll do even better than your brother." She patted him.

Sasuke nodded, and then continued to discuss about the issues of the village. Honestly, he was only listening. His uncle was the one talking the most.

A couple of the noble ladies his age called out to him.

"Sasuke-denka." A girl with long blonde hair curtsied. "It's _such _a pleasure to meet you." She politely greeted. She put a dainty, laced-glove hand out.

Sasuke pressed it to his lips- it was only polite and proper. He could tell she held back her urge to giggle and her flirtatiousness with a tamed blush as the other girls flushed in jealousy when he replied in an emotionless, yet polite tone. "As it is to meet you...and you are?"

"Yamanaka Ino, daughter of Yamanaka Inoichi of the Yamanka House." She curtsied again and then avoided his eyes with a shy gaze as she then softly said, "I wish you luck on finding a suitable companion." Her blue eyes looked hopeful as she looked down with a modest expression, "If I may plead, perhaps you could take into consideration accepting a mere lady as I."

"Fake. Yamanaka Ino is one of biggest chatterboxes here, despite her mild appearance." Neji whispered into his ear.

Sasuke could already tell that the girl's appeal was a lie to her true nature. The rest of the girls were exactly the same- all trying to appear innocent and graceful. The whole night went on like this.

None of the girls appealed to Sasuke as someone he would enjoy by his side. They were all in fancy, flattering dresses and graceful faces, however, none of it mattered to him. He didn't feel anything. Did he somehow miss the feeling of love?

They didn't have want he wanted to see. Something was missing in all the girls.

Did he even want to fall into something as pathetic as love anyway? He was a king, and love seemed like a feeling that would lower him to his knees.

He became dizzy from all the perfumes of the noblewomen. The roses that adorned the room as a symbol of the Uchiha House. He hated the pungent smell of roses. It seemed too bold, fake as to originality.

He excused himself to Neji and slipped outside alone. He wandered in darkness in the back of the palace, remembering that there was a garden there that belonged to the House that had once ruled before his. When he walked into the gates of the garden, he realized it was still being well kempt by gardeners.

The pathway was dimly lit with the lights from the inside of the palace, and a regal fountain spraying both light and water stood at the center. He noticed the cherry blossoms in full bloom, almost soaking the silver of the moon. The petals swirled about like rain, a sweet mist.

But that wasn't what caught his eye.

It was the girl standing underneath the tree.

The peach dress twirled at her legs, a large flower blooming at her feet. Her eyes...they were a serene, yet honest green, like all of spring put into a pigment. Her blossom-pink long hair flowed as if she had wings. Of an angel.

And then, he knew.

Her.

It was her.

"Who are you?"

Her dreamy trance was broken when she realized she was not alone. Her graceful green eyes widened as she bolted, but Sasuke grabbed a hold of her wrist.

"Please." He heard a tone of plead in his voice. "I'm Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke." He offered his name. He needed to know hers. He wanted it so bad.

They met eyes. The lush bliss in her eyes melted into his. Suddenly, he felt a shock. Warm, exciting. Tempting.

He felt her tremble, perhaps she felt it too.

Her soft lips mouthed, and it seemed like hours until her pure voice reached his ears.

"Sakura."

And before he could say anymore, she fleeted into the dark. Leaving him alone once again with only her name to repeat.

"Sakura."

**

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**

A/N: Now Sasuke's met both Robin Hood and Sakura!!! To give you a little spoiler (I just can't keep secrets!!!!), I plan on giving a story to Sakura's that make it even more dramatic (at least, I hope it will seem like it for you guys)!

**Vocab:**

**dono- equivalent to lord**

**sama- same as dono**

**Yep, I've added Neji and Ino to the plot. Those two will play the bigger plots of the minor characters!**

**I'm so happy if you're reading this right now! I just started righting fanfiction last year, and I feel like such a rookie with all the other fics having sooo much more reviews! But you all make me feel so much more encouraged! Please keep it up!**

**Review! Review! Review!**


	9. Mistake

**Chapter 9: Mistake**

_Perhaps it was all but a mistake. _

_That we fell in love._

_Maybe I wasn't really in love with you. Maybe…_

_I just needed someone to hold on to. Someone that could somehow take all the burden- that even I couldn't understand- away. Someone who could free me out of some barrier that even I couldn't understand._

_Just someone._

_Maybe when I came across you- saw your eyes that held all the serenity of the spring, saw you walking so gracefully that you almost seemed like a floating angel…- I did not even think about love. _

_I only thought of saving myself from the pain I was trying to deny all my life._

_Maybe I was never in love with you._

_Maybe I only wanted to use you._

_Maybe I never cared for you._

_Maybe it was all a mistake._

_Would that mean that if I did not make that mistake- loved someone else…_

_You'd still be innocent and smiling without a knowledge about the cruelty I had been living with my whole life- lies, betrayal?_

_Does that mean that if I had never made that mistake…_

_You'd still be happy here?_

_Does that mean that if I had never made that mistake…_

_You wouldn't have left?_

_It was all my fault, wasn't it?_

_It was my entire mistake._

--

Sakura absentmindedly brought her fingers to her cheeks. The red was still in her face, it felt as if flames were heating them on the inside…

But it felt…

Nice.

She caught herself, and then the warmth in her face changed from a thrilling feeling to embarrassment.

She calmed herself down, telling herself that her flee from the castle to the mouth of the forest where she was now was longer than usual, and faster than usual…

Which was why her heart was thumping so hard. And why her whole body was still scorched with heat…

Even though she had rested long enough.

She flinched at a soft rustle of bushes, whipped around with her bowstring pulled back and an arrow already aimed. Nothing was there.

She scolded herself; it was only a single leaf she had recklessly stepped on.

She moved on cautiously. But the forest she trekked through over a thousand times since she was able to walk seemed unfamiliar and blurred. No matter how hard she rubbed her eyes, everything was unclear.

Suddenly, she saw that face again.

_His _face.

His gentle grip on her wrists…the warmth…

_Thunder jolted in her heart. _

_She turned and looked up._

_Gray…at first it was all steely clouds, bringing her in…and then she saw a tint of dark blue…everlasting black…_

_Eyes…his eyes…_

"_Please, I'm Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke."_

"Uchiha…Sasuke…" Her lips formed the syllables.

Her face flamed even more.

But then…that wasn't all.

That place…The garden…all the flowers…

The cherry blossoms…

It was all so…

Familiar.

_Pink…petals showering from the eye-blinking sky._

_They tickled her nose, some entangled themselves in her cropped pink hair._

_She looked down at her bare feet. The green of the grass was no longer noticeable. Instead, a blanket of pastels rested over it. The fragments of flowers felt satiny against her toes as she flexed them. _

_She knelt down, her long, silk skirt wrinkling, but she didn't care. Her tiny hands scooped the fallen flowers and brought them to her nose._

_She could hear her name being called in the background, behind the garden, in the palace. _

"_Sakura-hime!"_

"_Sakura-hime, where are you?"_

"_Hime!"_

Hime…Princess…

Had she ever been called that?

She only remember surviving, finding herself alone. Fending for herself to live…

How could that palace- the palace of the Uchiha- possibly remind her of _home _somewhere in her memories?

"Hey, Sakura! How'd it go?"

"Huh?" She snapped awake from her dreamy state. She had not realized she had reached her hiding base, the center of the desolate forest where no one else lived- her home since she had always remembered.

"Hello? Sakura! Earth to Sakura!" Naruto impatiently waved a hand in her face.

"Yes…what?" She said half-mindedly, forgetting that her face was still flushed.

"What do you mean 'what'? Did you beat him up?!" Naruto asked with bright eyes in excitement, unaware of her unusually red cheeks.

"Beat who up?"

The look he gave her looked like he thought she had lost her mind. "The dumbass King!"

"No!" She replied, shocked. "I only wanted to have a talk with him!"

"Then how'd it go?" Naruto asked, somewhat dejected that there was not going to be as much action in her story.

"Fine…" Her voice trailed.

That young man…

Was he-?

"_My name's Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke."_

"Is there something wrong, Sakura? Did he hurt you?" Naruto asked, worried.

Of course he would be, she was acting weird tonight. But she couldn't help it.

His face…

"No, no. I'm fine." She walked off, leaving her friend with a curious and suspicious look on his face.

"And his name isn't 'the dumbass king'."

"It's Sasuke."

She whispered the name again, for the warmth of it.

"Sasuke."

**A/N: ****Oh wow, it's been more than a month since my last update. Sorry! Sorry! I didn't mean it! I was without a computer for a while and lost my momentum!**

**So here's Sakura side of the story, and how she meant Sasuke. Oh, pay attention to her memories, they're going to play quite a role…dun dun dun…(that was for suspense)**

**I hope all of you haven't lost hope in me and are still reading!**

**R&R!!!!!**


	10. Exposure

**Chapter 10: Exposure**

_You would understand, wouldn't you?_

_You would understand if I told you that, when you first see someone, you don't __**see**__ them._

_You only see what they don't want to hide._

_You would understand well, wouldn't you?_

_You of all people…would know the best._

_Because I fooled you, didn't I?_

_I betrayed you, I hurt you…_

_I caused you to leave._

_Do you feel pain now?_

_Do you feel your pain? The pain of the whole village?_

_My pain._

_I'm the cause of all this._

_It's all my fault. Because I failed to show you __**me**__._

_If you had saw __**me**__, if __**I **__was the first thing you saw instead of that other person you saw- everything I didn't want you to see…_

_You would've hated me._

_You would've been spared from falling deeper and deeper into the darkness of my life…_

_My heart._

_And in the end, in reality…_

_You left in the end._

_All because I failed to expose my real self._

--

Sasuke dug the heels of his riding boots harder into the side of his ivory stallion.

His red cape with a fan-like symbol embellished on to the silk fluttered behind him, warning villagers to step out of his way. He ignored the children that did not notice him, he let their mothers anxiously snatch them out of the way in fear. He could care less if any of them were trampled by the heavy hooves of his stallion.

His men were slow behind him, they raced on horseback, trying to catch up. He knew they would be useless, it was the reason why he decided to lead the chase rather than letting that colonel that had disappointed his uncle for the umpteenth time.

He kept his steely eyes on the slim, hooded figure ahead of him that darted through the crowd. He scowled, he wasn't letting him get away. He was different from his brother and father.

He was going to figure out who this "Robin Hood" was and have him punished.

The figure turned and drew his arrow. Sasuke ducked from the arrow that grazed a bit of his hair. He had good aim.

He decided it would be best to capture him by close combat. He followed him all the way to the edge of the town, where a cliff marked the end. Beneath the rock were uncharted forests.

The criminal turned away from the cliff and faced towards Sasuke.

His eyes flashed green from the shadows.

Green.

Eyes of spring green, soft as leaves, pure as rain…

Something was familiar about the man. He tried denying it, as the figure made his first attack towards his chest.

Sasuke stepped back, still only able to see his opponent's eyes. He brought his long sword down, but the hooded man blocked the blow. Sasuke could tell that his foe was weaker than most men, so he attempted to overpower him.

However, the opponent was nimbler than most men as well, and was fast enough to sneak behind him.

The two fought a long battle. Sasuke grew frustrated, never had he been pushed to fight this hard this long. He couldn't lose, he never had.

But at this point, he could only wait for his troop to back him up.

Finally, they arrived. The sound of clambering hooves came in the background of screeching metal.

Behind the hood, Sasuke noticed that the figure's eyes shone with anxiousness. Sasuke smirked, the man knew he was caught.

This was it, his moment of glory.

But then, as if he had suddenly gained more stamina, the foe gave a series of slashes towards Sasuke. Sasuke noticed that he was being pushed back as he barely blocked each blow.

Something crumbled underneath his foot. He looked down, but it was too late, he was already plummeting towards the dark, green mouth of the forest.

"Sasuke-denka!"

The wind of his momentum whistled in his ears. He looked up…

His opponent fell with him too.

Somehow, his vision must have blurred. Maybe he wasn't thinking right while falling. Maybe his mind was too busy worrying about death…

But when he looked at the young man in the cape falling with him…

He didn't see an enemy.

The cape flapped away into the wind.

They hit the rough grass of the ground.

Sasuke landed on his knees, bent over the other boy. His body heaved with hard breaths, his heart thumped wildly.

Sasuke could tell the other boy was feeling the same as the two finally met face to face, with Sasuke's blade pointed down at his neck.

Her neck.

Long rose hair spilled on the grass, and the green eyes stared pierced his.

"Sakura?"

**

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**

A/N: Yay, and now the two lovers meet face to face with their true selves.

**Now it's gonna get fun! **

**You people need to review more! Do you all have any clue how much your comments mean to a wannabe writer like me?? **

**R & R!!!!**


	11. Incognizance

**Chapter 10: Incognizance**

_We didn't know what would've happened to us. We didn't know back then…at that very second._

_We didn't know._

_And because we didn't, we went with what we felt was right- we "followed our hearts"_

_That's what I read all the time when I was young, in those fairy tales._

"_Follow your heart."_

_They followed this object that they could not see…they followed it, not knowing if this…this "heart" could speak._

_They followed it without knowing the future._

_Did we not do the same?_

_And yet our ending seems worlds apart from theirs._

_Maybe because ours is real._

_Then I wonder…_

_Maybe it was our hearts pushed us into this darkness._

_If those people in the stories had known the future…_

_Would they have followed their hearts?_

_If they had known all those tortures and shadows they had to go through…_

_Would they have followed?_

_What about us?_

_If we had known…_

_If only we had known…_

--

"Sakura?"

Their eyes were locked. She could've looked away, but she couldn't.

She couldn't draw her eyes away.

Her heart that was already beating hard and fast from the fall…

It beat even more furiously now, hurting her chest as it rose and fell.

Could he hear it?

Why? Why did her body feel so warm? Why was electricity jolting each second?

Why couldn't she move away?

She wanted to run. Push him away and run as fast as she could, away from him. Away from this feeling until she could figure out what it was.

But she couldn't. Something chained her to the ground, held her eyes to look at him.

Him. It was him.

And they were so close too…

"You're the Robin Hood…" He whispered.

She looked into his gray eyes. They seemed cold…but yet so much in pain when he said this…

But how could she think this? Why was she thinking this now? These eyes were the same as when he killed Asuma-san and Kurenai-san. These eyes belonged to that very same person.

"And your Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke of the Uchiha House." She said coolly.

He looked as if he was going to say something, but she didn't give him the chance.

"The same house that killed the owners of the orphanage, the same house that's left this village in poverty, and the same house that wants me dead."

"And you're the so-called King of that house."

His face looked confused, almost hurt. Part of her wanted to comfort him. Part of her heart fluttered with sympathy.

But the other part wanted revenge.

That part of her made sense. Didn't he deserve it? Why should she feel that nervous way towards him?

She held her blade up next to his throat, in return for his blade pointed down at hers.

She stayed frozen in that position. She didn't know what else to do. Silence separated them.

The wind howled loudly, or was it just that their silence was just too quiet?

"You're the King." She said again, just in case he didn't hear her.

Why wasn't he saying anything anyway? He was supposed to be cruel and heartless. But here he was right in front of her, and now, she wasn't so sure about who he was anymore…

"And I'm the Robin Hood." She looked into his eyes. "I'm the one you swore to kill the moment you took that crown."

He only looked at her, in that same vacant expression he had the whole time. Why wasn't he going to say anything?

"Then why don't you kill me now?"

What?

Her eyes widened. Is that really what he just said?

No, that can't be right.

But he looked serious as he spoke again. "Aren't you going to kill me?"

Was he mocking her? Her arm shook in anger. She was so confused. And since she was horrible at telling lies, she could only admit the truth.

"No."

"Why?" He demanded.

"I don't know." Her lip quavered.

What was she doing? She could've sliced his throat right then, when he was vulnerable. But she didn't. She couldn't.

Then she realized…

She didn't want to.

"Why aren't you killing me?" She shot right back. She couldn't let him think she was weak.

"Because…" He said slowly.

"I don't think you're the enemy."

He said something more, but she couldn't hear him. The wind blew in her ears. But when it died down, his words reached him.

"I think…I'm in love…"

"with you."

**

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**

A/N: Confession! How will the two find their way back to the village? Find out next time…!

**Oh, and R&R! I love comments! Last time was a record number of comments per chapter! Thanks you all!**


	12. Eclipsed

**Chapter 11: Eclipsed**

_My reflection…when I saw that person in the mirror after meeting you… It did not look like the same person who first came. At that time, I thought: How could it be? Nothing seemed to have changed._

_The mirror was still the same._

_I was still the same person._

_But then I realized…_

_It was you._

_But…_

_Now I look in the mirror._

_And now I think:_

_Maybe it wasn't you._

_Maybe I always had that smile…_

_That light in my eyes._

_Maybe I always believed in love._

_Maybe I always was the softer person I became when I was with you._

_If so…_

_I never really changed._

_Have you ever played that game when you were a child- hide and seek?_

_Perhaps the person you unlocked inside me…_

_Perhaps it played hide and seek with me. Perhaps my true heart was hiding all along. Too scared to be vulnerable, to be hurt, to face a unforeseeable future.._

_Eclipsed in the shadows, where I could not find it._

_And maybe I was searching for it the whole time. Seeking for so long…_

_So long without my real self- real heart- that I forgot I ever had it._

_So long that I forgot that I was even searching for something…_

_And instead of finding it…I was only left with that feeling that __**something **__was missing._

_I think I have found it now, with your help…I think my journey is over._

_So now I look in the mirror, the very same mirror…_

_And I see grief._

--

"I'm in love with you."

The words shattered in her head, breaking everything that made sense into fragments.

Was this a nightmare- no, a dream?

Everything spun so fast, she couldn't think. Shock pounded in her forehead.

Wake up.

Wake up.

Maybe she heard him wrong.

She had to have.

She was still locked and trapped. Staring at his eyes…so sincere…

Her chest hurt from the hammering of her heart. She couldn't breathe.

She needed to run…find some place that felt safe again. With him, she felt so bare, so defenseless…

She fled.

Without looking back, she fled. She was tired, but somehow, her legs managed to take her fast into the forest from the confusion, the fear pulsing in her blood.

Trees blurred, her eyes felt wet.

Her head hurt. Everything felt wrong, broken.

And now she was running. Running away.

Away from him.

But none of it made sense.

She hated him. She had to. His family had ignored their subject for years, tortured the villagers, killed her loved ones…

She had promised revenge for the villagers- to kill him, to bring him down from his throne.

What if it was a trick? Maybe he was laughing at her roght now. Scorning at her weakness…

But just then…

When he spoke those words…

He looked like he felt the same way.

Confused.

Frightened.

She needed to know why.

Why was it that her face felt hit every time she thought of him?

Why was it that his voice made her feel at home?

Why was it that…

After meeting him face to face that night…

He felt so close…

Not like someone she hated.

But someone she…

She couldn't put it in words.

She stopped running, fatigued after the distance she ran. She didn't know where she was, but it didn't matter, her thoughts blinded her anyway. Her vision swarmed with questions.

She didn't notice the shadows following her, stalking her behind trees, waiting to pounce. Wolves, hungry for prey.

Deaf to the leaves rustling, and the ravenous panting, she breathed heavily, trying to figure out how she felt about him.

Who was he to her?

"_I think I'm in love with you."_

And then…the realization trickled into her…terrifying her even more.

She…

She heard a growl and spun, but it was too late.

The creatures leaped into the air, claws already close to ripping her face.

But she didn't get a chance to scream.

For a shadow came over her, a human's shadow.

Sasuke's shadow.

He shielded her, his arms wide, his back facing the wolves as their claws cut open his back and blood spilled.

And when she met his protective gray eyes.

She knew.

And she couldn't deny it and longer.

She loved him.

**

* * *

**

A/N: I know I tweaked Sakura's personality by a lot. We all know that she would be more than eager to confess her love to Sasuke in the real plot, and plus, it would take eons for Sasuke to even confess love to her (it would also take eons to get him to actually love her too). But…

**I think the story works better this way, don't you?**

**R&R! **


	13. Vow

**Chapter 13: Vow**

_Don't you hate me?…_

_I can hear you right now, just laughing at me lightly, calling me silly for thinking that._

_But…_

_If you are doing that right now…_

_Are you lying?_

_I always thought the day we spoke to one another, my heart connected to yours. _

_I thought that I understood you. Felt the feelings you did. _

_But maybe it was all an illusion._

_Because now I now that the mind plays tricks on you. _

_And now I know that your desires obscure the reality that's right in front of you._

_So maybe I fooled myself into thinking that I knew you._

_Maybe part of me is still trying to be blind, trying to believe that I understand you._

_But now the other part wants to know the truth._

_Now the other part of me is thinking…_

_You must hate me._

_Why?_

_Because you were right all along. _

_You doubted in forever, and you were right to. _

_But I lured you back into hoping into that hopeless dream. I lured you…and I hurt you. I broke that hope into thousands of pieces that cannot possibly be put back together._

_I promised you __**forever.**_

_And it was I who broke the vow. _

_It was I who committed the sin._

_But you were the one punished._

_You, the innocent victim of my lies…._

_You must hate me._

--

Sasuke opened his eyes. His eyelids felt heavy, and his head ached.

Where was he?

When the black cleared from his vision, he noticed that he was sitting on a rock by a lake in a forest. He looked down and saw his feet in the still, clear waters.

He also noticed that his whole upper body was bare. His chest exposed as well as his back.

His back. He flinched, pain shot through his body, waking him up.

He remembered.

"Why did you do it?"

He heard a familiar, serene voice ask from behind him. Gentle hands scrubbed his wound.

He stayed quiet, he did not have an answer.

"You barely know me. I'm a nearly a stranger to you…"

"But you saved me anyway."

She continued to wash the wound. He listened to her talk. The cadence of her voice soothed him.

"Were you aware that you could've died?" she asked in a small voice.

Time stopped.

He stared at his reflection. What he saw in the water was himself; gray eyes, black hair, stony face.

If he had died, he wouldn't be breathing right now.

If he had died, he wouldn't be seeing himself right now.

If he died…

He would never be able to see her face, here her voice again.

She stood up, and in the water, he could see her. He could see her tranquil face, sharp green eyes… But he saw sorrow buried underneath her expression. Something painful that she was burdening, something that he couldn't quite explain

They looked at each other, through the reflection of the water. Staring at one another, daring to gaze at something that seemed so unpredictable…so frightening.

"You said you…" She said softly. "You said you loved me…"

"But why? Did it not make a difference when you discovered I was the one your family wants dead? Does it not make a difference that we come from opposite worlds?"

"It does. But when I met you…" He trailed. Explaining the feeling he had with her was useless. He couldn't even explain it himself.

How could he tell her that each time he saw her, everything around seemed so clear. How his heart beat faster and everything spun…

"I never felt this way with anyone else before." He admitted quietly.

Because he never really let himself this close to someone. He never trusted anyone to care for him. He had always thought; the more things you care for, the weaker you get.

But he couldn't ignore her…

"Do you…" He asked cautiously. "feel the same?"

For if she did not, he'd be alone again.

The silence she let pass by seemed like eternity.

"Yes." Her voice quavered.

She fell to the ground, sitting next to him, looking at the water.

"I always told myself that as long as I live, I would protect the villagers…" she whispered. "That's what I am to them, their hero…but now…I can't even avenge them. I can't give them the revenge, the justice they need…because…because…" She trailed.

"I'm so horrible…so selfish. I can't help but feel this way towards you. You always feel so close…I want to ignore it, maybe it's all a mistake…because everything is so confusing now…" Uncertainty rung in her voice, as she talked faster.

He couldn't hear her, but somehow, he understood. He always seemed to understand her, like she was a part of his heart- the part of him that always seemed missing.

"I'm so scared." She finished in a small voice as she shivered, but it wasn't cold.

But the words resonated in his ears.

Somehow, his arms found their way around her. He pulled her close to him, maybe it was to protect her, maybe it was to make himself feel safer…

But it felt right.

He felt whole.

--

"Hmmm?" she mumbled.

He walked on, carrying her on his back while walking through the forest. She was awake, he could sense it.

He could sense everything. The synchronicity of their heartbeats, her skin against his back, the warmth of her body…

He was about to let her go, certain that she would either struggle from surprise or embarrassment. He would've let her walk on her own if she hadn't been still sound asleep at the lake. She had fallen asleep right in his arms, so he decided to carry her. He didn't want her to stop sleeping.

With her eyes closed, she looked so blithe, without a worry in the world…as if the world she lived in was not a burden in her heart- a burden that he had only complicated even more.

Watching her sleep, it gave him a shawl of peace that wrapped around him, as if seeing her calm made him feel the same. Was that what love did?

But he also felt guilt. Guilty from causing so much discomfort for her. Guilty from worry her, breaking the easy innocence of her life with his feelings.

Could he have possibly been happy simply watching her laugh freely and smile?

Could he have possibly just…let her be. Let her remain hating him, so she wouldn't have to be dragged down with confusion.

Could he?

Was he being selfish?

He bent down, but she stayed still.

"No. I want to stay like this just a little longer…"

He froze.

"I want to stay like this just a little longer…"

She felt the same. He felt his face heat.

Just one sentence came from her lips. Yet his heart felt light in a way it never had before…Just one sentence.

She felt the same.

She…she loved him back.

"…Um…is that okay? Am I too heavy?" She spoke hesitantly again.

He snapped out of the sudden daydream, realizing that she was speaking. "No. It's fine."

They walked on in silence. He had never been good with people, but now he wish he was. Suddenly, he felt so conscious about himself. Did she think he was too quiet, too cold? Would she see how friendless he was and avoid him like the others?

She reached for a flower in a tree, gently plucked it from its stem. "I've never been so close to the sky before…Have you ever realized that," She twirled the flower in between her fingers, "nothing stays the same forever? But the sky is always there forever."

"I've never been so close to something that stays forever."

Her voice seems sad, nostalgic. Yet it seems hopeful.

Yet it seemed scared.

He understood her. He felt the ache in her heart.

But instead of speaking his heart, he spoke, "We're in the meadow, the village is right ahead of us."

"Oh." She almost sounded disappointed.

She got off and they faced each other.

Looking down at her with her gentle face, spring green eyes…

How stupid of him not to have realized before who she really was.

"They would never allow it. You know that right?" The pure, liquid green of her eyes stared into his.

He knew who they were.

He knew. And it hurt.

"Yes." He replied, with nothing else to say. He did not want to show his pain, he did not want her to know his fright on the uncertainty of their future- their forever.

"They can't know." She said.

Nobody could know. Know about him and her. Know about _them_.

His family would never allow.

Her villagers would never accept it.

They could not be.

Maybe they weren't supposed to, but their hearts called to each other.

And at that moment, he decided that no matter what, he would fight. He would fight for this feeling, these moments. _Her. Him. _

_Love._

"I know and they won't." He said fiercely. More determined. He had never wanted something more than this in his life. Never. "But we'll stay together somehow. We have to. Forever."

She stared into his eyes, and he could still sense her trying to decide whether or not to entrust her happiness in him.

"Forever…" She whispered the word, too good to speak loudly in words. Too good to be true.

The sun was beginning to set, and she broke away from him. The parting seemed so painful. As she started to turn away, his heart felt like it was being pulled away from him…

"Then till we meet again…Uchiha-kun…" Her voice lost in the wind that blew between them, making her feel even farther.

He could hear the doubt in her voice.

Something told him something was wrong. Their parting was wrong, too painful.

And that something- his heart- told him to stop her.

He held her wrist and spun her around.

And he kissed her.

**

* * *

**

A/N: Sigh, first kiss…. Actually, don't blame me if I don't describe kisses and romantic moments very well. I'm only using what I've read in other books as a source. I've never actually kissed someone before.

…**Nor have I ever been on a date.**

**And my last crush was…in 4****th**** grade…**

**Maybe I'll find someone I like in high school next year, maybe not. I'm not one of those people that easily crush on someone and call every crush I have a love. **

**Ah, enough about my life. It's not important.**

**What's important is that you all are enjoying my fic (hopefully!!!) and review!!!!!**


	14. Revalation

**Chapter 14: Revelations**

_I remember, once, meeting a man who was blind._

_I never told you this story before, right? That was because I never thought it would matter._

_But somehow…it does now._

_The man was blind._

_He still had eyes. Two eyes, irises, a pupil…just like the rest of us._

_But somehow, they were different._

_They had this look to them. Somehow, they seemed to stare infinitely beyond._

_I felt bad for him. _

_I was younger then, and I remember asking him:_

"_Are you sad? Because you can't see any of the world."_

_But what I remember the most is what he replied._

_He said he was not blind._

_He could see with his heart._

_How could that be?_

_I thought that being able to know which colors are on the wall, what I am looking at…_

_I thought that was all seeing._

_I could see._

_And the man could not._

_But when you came, you gave me a revelation…_

_I was the one that was blind._

_For after seeing your face, hearing your words…_

_The world seemed new to me. Everything was so clear…_

_And I discovered the pain I never noticed. But the pain was there all along. And I never noticed it._

_Perhaps it was because I never paid attention to that heart inside me. Perhaps I didn't have one at all._

_And perhaps…_

_Both of us were blind._

_We both ignored the warnings that were given to us…the warnings may have been from our hearts._

_But we ignored them and decided to stay together._

_We ignored our hearts and therefore…_

_We failed to see what coming._

_And now, we suffer the consequences_

_--_

He walked through the hall, his footsteps echoing through the vast castle. He was well aware he seemed misplaced; his boots dirty from the forest, clothes soaked in blood, the silk wrinkled. He paid no attention to the soldiers that stared at his return in shock, calling out to him, asking him what happened, or if he was alright.

He pushed open the large door at the end of the hall, walking into the large room, where his uncle sat on the throne that was supposed to be his.

"Ah, Sasuke-denka, thank God you are safe." His uncle arose from the throne and walked to him, his voice smooth and expressionless.

He did not look as if he was worried for him at all.

Sasuke felt suspicion crawl up his back, and irritation for his uncle's decision for taking his place on the throne while he was gone…

His uncle was supposed to be loyal to him right?

He was the king after all…

Right?

He shook the feeling away, it made him feel too uncomfortable. His uncle probably only wanted to help him by stepping in for a while…

Yes, that had to be it.

"I have already taken the liberty to punish the men that were supposed to follow you on your mission. Such recklessness should not be allowed, especially around the king."

He noticed his uncle's scarlet eyes slide past him and over to the troop of soldiers guarding the door behind him. Their fear was obvious, Sasuke could hear the armor rattling from behind…underneath the steel, their bodies were shaking.

It wasn't their fault, he knew that. And if it wasn't for his fall, he wouldn't have been able to…all of it wouldn't have happened…

"That won't be necessary, these men have tried hard to protect-

"Sasuke-denka, they are not to be pitied from disregarding their jobs." His uncle cut him off. His scarlet eyes seemed to have a flash of lust for violence and pain.

He felt a twinge of sympathy for the men. He knew the punishment would mean lashes and cuts. But if he argued against his uncle…

"Fine then." He left.

Leaving not only the men with a feeling of dread, but leaving himself with anger he could not explain.

--

"You looked awful when you came back." Neji did nothing to hide his opinion as he met Sasuke down the hall as they were about to join a formal dinner.

Sasuke looked in one of the mirrors. The man that stood in the glass wore a crimson long coat lined with gold, and a ruffled-collar, onyx shirt tucked underneath. He was clean, formal, regal.

But somehow, he felt that the young man that he entered as before…with the ripped clothing, the scratched skin…

That young man felt more like…

Him.

She didn't mind how he looked…

He smiled faintly at the thought of her.

"And in a good mood. Are you alright?" Neji asked.

Sasuke turned and smiled at his comment, "I'm fine."

Neji looked at him curiously. He turned to greet one of the royal dukes, then asked. "What happened?"

"Nothing." Sasuke lightly replied. He hoped Neji would not press him any further.

He couldn't tell. He couldn't trust anyone.

Neji raised an eyebrow, "Right. So you're trying to tell me that you came in the palace looking like peasant from a dog fight, from nothing?"

"You are well aware I engaged in combat with the Robin Hood."

"I am." Neji agreed, but then smirked, "Is he that good?"

Before he could speak again, Neji started again.

"Good enough to stab you through…And kind enough to heal you right after?"

He froze in his step and looked to his side to his friend.

How could he lie through this?

Could it be possible…that he already knew?

Neji seemed to calculate the expression on his face, and then broke into a teasing smile, "Did you meet someone else along the way? A fair maiden who was driven by love to help the heroic king in need?"

He let out the silent breath he had held.

But he felt heat creep up his face. He cursed himself for it.

Neji smirked, "So you did."

He avoided eye contact. He couldn't deny his feelings for her. Saying he did not meet anyone today would be like betraying her. Betraying _them. _

Saying that nothing happened…

It would be betrayal.

For something _did _happen.

_Everything _happened.

How could he possibly deny that his whole world did not change today?

As if Neji sensed his discomfort and uncertainty, he spoke quietly.

"Sneak into the village tomorrow, I can cover you."

"You can meet her there."

--

He was lost after three minutes.

And then realized: he did not even know where she lived.

Suddenly, the thing that was pumping hard in his chest with hope- hope from thinking of seeing her again…- dropped.

Would he be able to see her again?

It was not even a full day before they left each other- alone- and he already ached to meet her again.

His ears already strained to hear her again…

His eyes already wishing to see her again…

His heart already searching for her again.

He could not think about anything but her.

But the thought of not being able to see her today woke him up. For the first time since the time he met her, his daydream was shattered.

He was suddenly aware of how different his surroundings were. How unfamiliar.

The rejected clanging of hammer meeting metal at the smith shop…the tired cutting of poor small meats…The desperate calls from shopkeepers to earn money…

Everything dirty, everything poor- but then he found a word in his mind that he never had thought of before…

Sad.

This was his village. This was what he ruled. Yet…

He did not know anything about it.

How had he never noticed the sunken faces of mothers and fathers? …

Never noticed the faces fatigued from poverty?…

Never noticed the bony bodies of the children?…

Never noticed the sorrow that was written over their faces?

He must have been blind.

He turned at a child's whimper and saw a small boy cornered by a pack of wild dogs, both fighting over ownership of the garbage bags.

Did such things happen everyday?

He watched the boy, trying to run, only to be bitten.

He could save him.

But he was just a boy, a villager. There were more like him, they weren't important.

He could save him all the same.

Because the boy was still human. He was born the same as he was. And yet here he was, living a luxurious life, while the hundreds of people here suffered.

Those people, his villagers, suffered while he ignored them- he failed to see them.

How could he have been so blind?

A whir of red spun into the scene, a flash of metal slashed through each dog.

It was her.

**

* * *

**

A/N: I hope all of you can see how Sasuke's starting to change (that's what I'm trying to aim for, but if you didn't notice before because my writing sucks, now you do know and pretend you are noticing. Haha.)

**I'm also just going to give a hint and point out that Neji is not as clueless as he seems, and that his character is more than what he was introduced to be…**

**Thanks for reading! And thanks for all your reviews, keep them up please!**

**Just a heads up: This will be the second to last chapter I will be upploading in a while. Next week will be the last. After that, I'm going to be very busy....going on a vacation back to China!!!! But I'll find time to draft my fics there, don't worry!**


	15. Groundless

**Chapter 15: Groundless**

_Have you ever felt…_

_Knew…_

_That the reason you exist…_

_The reason why God created you…_

_Was to __**do **__a certain something?_

_Have control…_

_Get stronger…_

_I once thought that I was birthed_

_for that reason._

_I was wrong._

_My existence was fabricated…_

_To be with you._

_Yet I had no explanation._

_You understand, don't you?_

_You once said that you were meant to be a heroine. _

_Did you ever know why?_

_Were you groundless…_

_Like me?_

_Without cause…without just…_

_I __**knew **__that I was meant to be with you…_

_But yet again,_

_I was wrong._

_--_

She unsheathed her sword, knocked over the dog that was about to pounce on her.

Without hesitation.

Without doubt.

This was what she was meant to do.

Protect.

She easily scared the starved creatures away and turned around to find the boy hiding in her shadow, shaking.

Despite that this village was the only sight her eyes knew, her chest felt twisted every time she saw the children.

He seemed so frail, as if an internal demon gnawed away at his flesh and left only a shell. His skin sagged, his eyes protruded due to his hollowed cheeks…Poverty deprived the boy of a childhood.

But it was the same for everyone else here.

She would know.

"It's alright, no need to be afraid. They're all gone now, trust me." She gave a gentle smile at the boy.

That's what she always had to do when she saved someone. Talk like a boy. Wear her hood. Hide her hair.

Speak with hope and kindness in her voice even if she really felt despair and hatred.

She reached into her satchel and her fingers tried to reach for a certain texture. The child looked at her curiously. She pulled out a loaf of bread and handed it to him.

The bread was stale, but in his hands, it seemed like a feast. He grinned, hugged her.

"Arigatou! Robin!"

She watched him run off, holding the bread close to him. That brief second, when that child hugged her…when he thanked her…when he smiled a smile so innocent…

It felt wonderful.

She looked down and noticed her hand was gently touching her chest, where her heart laid beating fast from the short-lived moment of joy. Suddenly, she noticed a shadow stretch over her.

She turned.

Lighting shot through her. Everything felt so alive again.

For it was him.

Him…

Speechless, she lost herself in the dark gray, melancholic eyes.

"Why did you do that?"

His question, his voice caught her by surprised. In a face that seemed so worn from an unnamable burden…there was a hint of innocence in his question.

"Why did you save him, give him that?" He asked again, in case she didn't hear.

But she did. Even if he didn't know, she heard his voice all the time now. It spoke in her mind in the day, lullabied in her dreams at night…whispered in her heart every second.

Why?

Why _did _she do this?

"Why?" She whispered breathlessly- her breath was what he stole from her every time she saw him- as she repeated the question not only for him. "I…really don't…know."

"You help this place everyday…you put their lives before yours…" He seemed confused. Like he wanted to know her, and something more.

"Isn't your life precious…to you?" He finished.

Yet, how could her life be precious if she had to see her home suffer? How could it be precious if all she could see- if she left the villagers on their own- hopelessness and despair?

"I…made myself the Robin Hood of this village a long time ago…" She broke her eyes from his and looked around at her home in the setting sun, " So long ago, that…I don't even remember when…Nor do I remember why…I've never asked myself why either. But,"

She took a breath. "somehow, I just _know_."

"I know that I have to do this."

"Why do they matter to you? You disguise yourself for them, you burden yourself for them. You could be free, and yet…" He trailed off.

She laughed softly, maybe it could ease the pain. "That's true…but…it would feel wrong. If I left them to starve, to die in tears I think I would hate myself. I would feel out of place."

"So…you wouldn't because…you felt out of place?"

"Yes." She looked down, "I guess so. It's kind of silly isn't it? But there's always something that tells me what's wrong of right inside me…and I listen."

It struck her how ironic it was, that she was confessing this to him- the one who caused all this pain. But somehow, her heart felt lighter.

She looked back at him, the look on his face was one she could not describe. It seemed deep in thought, lost, trying to unscramble something…

He caught her stare and she broke away, heat started to crawl up her neck.

"No. It's not silly at all. Thank you…you've…helped me clarify something that's been bothering…me…" He seemed hesitant to tell her something, and then he gave her a small smile. "You shouldn't do that."

"Huh? Do what?" What did she do?

"That look on your face. It makes everyone around you sad too. And plus." His eyes unclouded, "a smile suits you better."

"Oh…" She tried to give a convincing smile, but part of her was still far off in a dream.

How could she smile, when she had been through so much?

A voice broke the reflective silence between them.

"Oi! Robin! What's takin' so long?"

Obnoxious, resounding, loud, she knew who it was.

And she knew he couldn't see _them_.

She dragged him away, out of the alley. She had to get him away quick.

He seemed to understand, although reluctant to leave so soon.

"Hurry. You have to leave. _Now_."

They couldn't be seen together. No one would allow it. They would only try to sever their bond.

She didn't want to betray Naruto. What would he say if he found out?

"Wait, but-

"Go!" She pushed him off.

It hurt to see him run away, it was like there was a string that was tied between them, and knotted around each of their hearts at the end. The further they were, the more the knot squeezed and hurt her chest.

But never will she cut that bond.

"Geez Robin, at least yell out or somethin' when I call out." Naruto, with his pre-teen appearance and scruffy blonde hair, walked up from behind her.

"Sorry…" She replied distantly.

"Hey, is there something wrong? What happened?" Her friend looked worriedly at her.

Everything.

But she replied.

"Nothing."

"Nothing at all."

**

* * *

**

A/N: Last chapter for about a month or so! Ahhh!! Can't say I'm going to be sad that I'm leaving for a vacation (it IS a vacation after all). But it will "strike a needle in my heart" to not write for you all (ha, my dramatic self coming out). Well, fanfiction is a hobby, so yes, I do love writing. Thank you all for supporting me! I'm going to write much more when I come back: after all, school's coming to a close soon (Yay!) but I'll be off to be a freshman next year…who knows how much time I'll have to write then…

**Oh well. Thanks! Review please!!!**


	16. Choice

**Chapter 16: Choice**

_Life is full of choices._

_That's a common saying._

_Perhaps you would understand._

_But maybe not, since you were merely a lamb that stumbled into the darkness of a wolf. The woes of a grave. The sins of_

_me._

_You had no choice because of me. Because of me, my selfishness, you were stripped of the choice of being safe._

_But I._

_I chose to hurt you. _

_You might say that's a lie. _

_I can hear you saying: "How could you do that?"_

_Then hear my answer now:_

_I loved you._

_That is how I hurt you._

_My love lead us through hell._

_And so, my choice..._

_My choice lead you to leave._

_Why did God give me Choice?_

--

"You're late."

He turned. At first, his eyes saw an empty, shadowy hall. But then he noticed a paticularly dark figure of black, and then saw the pair of crimson eyes staring at him.

He then knew that he was not alone.

"I was at the smithshop to request a new blade." Sasuke felt the lie come coolly off his tongue.

Cool, stony, empty.

But inside, beneath his words, a storm whirled.

His uncle could not know that.

Nobody could.

"Is that so? The business was satisfactory, I hope. Although, I know that the smith's products have been poorly finished lately. For causing you such inconvenience, he should be punished-

"No."

His mouth spoke without permission. He felt the word slip and puncture the air.

The crimson eyes gleamed at him from the shadows.

"That...that won't be necessary." He backed up his word.

He realized how uncertain his voice was. How small he seemed before that shadow.

Something was not right about his uncle. Something was pulling against him, warning him. Something darked than the shadows lurked...

But somehow...

He was tired. Tired of having that nagging feeling everytime he allowed his uncle to carry out an order. Tired of saying yes to his every request. Tired of feeling as if...as if his thoughts, his emotions were wandering without his permission- wandering out to somewhere where he could not reach.

Everything felt wrong before.

He stammered this time. He said no.

And for some reason...

It felt right.

--

"Hurry! Catch him!"

The clanging of metal and yells woke him from sleep.

He hurried and dressed himself, opened his door to find soldiers in confusion. He sheilded his eyes from the flourescent light and wove through the chaos.

He did not need to ask what was going on.

He knew.

Something called in his heart, and he simply _knew_.

And that voice that flowed in his veins was also whispering something wrong.

_Her._

"Hah! He won't be able to run this time! This Robin Hood's as good as dead!"

He could not help but agree, and a weight was dropped upon his chest at noticing how many soldiers there were stationed.

There was no way she could escape.

He stumbled over to the storage room, trying to find her. Trying to breathe.

With every painful, thick thump of his heart there screamed three words:

_She could die..._

He tried to regain his breath and noticed that he was sweating. Or were those tears? He could no longer tell.

He looked up from the ground, saw the green lights that shone in the dark thoughts that hazed his vision.

Green...eyes...

"Sakura."

Her name slipped from his lips. A relief, fresh air...

For she stood before him in her disguise. Her beautiful long hair hidden underneath a wig, her body shadowed by her long cape as she held a sack of gold.

The look she returned him was anxious, the green peace in her eyes disturbed, frightened.

How he hated seeing her anything but happy.

How he hated the soldiers for trying to find her- as if she had committed some sort of crime by burdening a life she did not deserve.

And then he realized:

All of this was his fault.

Suddenly, he felt he did not deserve to look into her pure eyes. The reflection he saw, the young man with black hair and gray eyes...he wanted it to disinigrate.

"Open up!"

The banging of the door startled him. The wood seemed too weak to hold off a troop of soldiers for long.

He pushed a barrel aside, looked down at the trapdoor at his feet.

Suddenly he realized it would be so simple to turn her in.

To turn away from her and leave.

Turn away from everything, pretend it never had happened.

He could go back to the safe life he had before.

One that he knew, he understood. One where he did not have to feel so weak, dependent.

He opened it and stepped aside.

She looked at him, he couldn't tell what she felt, for the door was about to break.

"Hurry up."

She gave him one last fleeting glance, and left.

He was alone once more.

--

"Good morning, Sasuke-denka."

A pair of maids chirped at him. He returned their greeting with a nod and brushed past them.

The palace bustled with servants, noiser than usual from gossip about the Robin Hood.

"I heard he found the trap door in tghe storage room!"

"Oh! How smart for a villager!"

"How ashamed the King must feel, being outsmarted by a mere peasant!"

He felt his jaw tighten.

Mere peasant...

Robin Hood...

And he was in love with her.

She was more than that, he wanted to defend her.

But he couldn't.

Never had he felt so alone, so naked and weak. Although no one was scorning him, he felt so isolated.

He needed her.

He found himself at the cherry blossom tree behind the palace. Looking up, a cloud of pink shaded him from the sunlight. But looking at the trunk...

There was a letter.

He pulled the paper from the arrow that stuck it on the tree.

The words...there were only two.

But he knew, with the arrow, the faint fragrance of flowers...

It was her's.

And that was enough to fill him with warmth, as if she was really there...smiling with him, laughing...

It was only paper. Only ink.

And he read:

_Thank you. _

--

**A/N: Yeah this chapter was lame. I don't blame all of you if you think so too. I had to find something or someway to connect to the "big events" that are coming up. I hate skipping too much time or making things seem choppy by skipping to the good stuffs.**

**I'm writing this from China!!! Just wanted to mention that. I swear, being on vacation makes your brain momentarily stupid. So please go easy on me.**

**I promise a better chapter next time. Don't let this one stop you from reading this fanfic I work so hard on!!!!**

**R &R please! I don't even care if it's to bash how horrible my writing is!!!**


	17. Unacceptable

**Chapter 17: Unacceptable**

_Maybe its in human nature to hate change, maybe its just a habit-_

_or maybe its denial..._

_I can't describe why I still write to you. _

_It's not even that I can put it in words..._

_How can I put it in words, when I don't even understand it myself?_

_When I wrote to you, I felt a small light nearby...I never could reach it, but it was enough to make me warm. When I wrote to you, I could hear a heart beating- not mine- but someone else's. How can I explain what it was like?_

_I just knew it was you._

_When I wrote to you, it was like somewhere, in a world that did not even exist- except for my dreams-, we were together, hand in hand. We weren't talking in that world, and time was frozen. But that didn't matter. Our hearts spoke to one another, they were beating together. And with time frozen..._

_We were together forever._

_When I wrote to you, I created a world that could not be tainted by anyone._

_I still get that feeling everytime I write to you. _

_Isn't it pathetic?_

_I know you're not there, I do. And if you're not there, being able to read your handwriting again..._

_it was impossible. _

_Then why do I still get that excited feeling every time the clock strikes midnight?_

_Excitement- isn't that a feeling you get when you are expecting something? But I._

_I know there's nothing there for me._

_You are already gone._

_But my heart is weak, it chooses to be blind_

_-it will only accept painless things._

_Then... I think I've found my answer to why I still write to you, why letting you go is unacceptable:_

_I don't want to believe that you're gone._

_Forever._

--

"Sasuke-denka, it's time."

The knock on his door startled him as he sat at his study. He forced himself to look away from the sheet of parchment in front of him, realizing that the voice was his uncle's.

"Just a moment." He replied in a clipped, irritated voice.

His eyes flitted back to the parchment. He had to finish writing. He dipped the quill into the ink and scribbled the last words, then signed his name.

The excitement that danced in his gray eyes slowly faded- the letter was finished, he could write no longer.

Done. A short word, just like the time it took to fill the parchment with ink.

He wished the parchment would be longer. Never-ending. Forever. So he could write forever.

Write forever to _her._

_Written under the same stars, the same night sky, the same moon...these words make us seem so much closer than reality allows us. _

_But that is why we write, isn't it? _

_We write to each other at midnight. At midnight, when all are asleep, and no one no thing can stop us from loving._

_We write to each other at midnight, when the clock strikes twelve and proves that we have passed another day still able to love, when the movement of the hour hand proves that we are closer to eternity..._

_We write, because this world the ink from our quills create..._

_We are free._

_We are forever._

_-Sakura_

Those were the words he kept close to him. Her words. Written by her to him when they first began writing to each other. He kept that specific letter in his breast pocket.

Where it was the nearest it could be to his heart.

Her letters were the closest thing he had to being with her. For they could rarely see each other.

How could they, when they were supposed to be enemies?

But they weren't enemies. They didn't hate each other. Instead, they did the opposite.

They loved.

And so every night, they would exchange letters by pinning the parchment on the cherry blossom tree in the back garden. And every night, when the hour hand made an exact full cycle, he would sneak out to the garden and check.

And her words would be there.

Written in flowery handwriting, on rough white paper. It was only paper.

But in that paper contained her feelings.

Through letters he knew that she remembered nothing of her past and woke up as a little girl alone on the streets. Through letters he told her how his brother and father died at the hands of an assasin he could not recognize, and then he was sent away to a boarding scool feeling empty.

Throught letters it was how he knew that their love was real. It still existed.

Forever was still possible.

Faintly, through the mists of his thoughts, he heard the door click open.

He forced himself to separete from the letters, aware that no one could find out about _them_.

He hastily grabbed the parchments and clumisly shoved them into the drawer. He tried to stand while doing so and his knee crashed into the desk. The candle- still lighting- toppled over, spilling oil over a sheet of paper and starting a small fire.

He cursed out loud and put it out. But it was too late.

He watched the _Sakura_ slowly burn to nothing.

"Who was that from?" his uncle inquired.

Sasuke could see the calculative expression that his uncle was trying to hide with an innocent question.

"Just a collegue from my previous boarding school." He replied with a smooth lie.

He surprised himself. The lie came so easily off his tongue.

He grew slightly annoyed and switched the subject, "I thought it was comon courtesy to knock before entering."

"I'm hurt Sasuke. Do you not look at me as your uncle, you most trusted advisor? You should have nothing to hide from me. So why knock?" His uncle spoke with a hurt voice- but his eyes did not match his words.

For he could see the cold-hearted nature that snaked about him- the one he was trying to mask.

His uncle was not to be trusted.

Sasuke didn't respond. Tucking his written letter into his tailcoat to be pinned to the tree later, he brushed by his uncle without a word and walked out of his room. He headed down the grand staircase only to be greeted by too many of the noble guests of tonights dinner party.

If he had a choice, he would have stayed upstairs in his quaters. But he didn't have a choice. He was the king. It was required.

Not only that, but his uncle said that "it was of the utmost importance" that he particapated in tonight's party.

He tried to slip through the newly-arrived guests without having to converse with too many of them. Nobles talked of useless things- deeds, estates, wealth...

As if their subjects- the ones who did not live the grand lives they did- did not exist.

As if their subjects were not dying at their greed.

He was almost at the dining room when he collided into a tall, broad-chested man with his long blonde hair tied in a ponytail. Despite the two inch height difference between him and the man, the way the man stood so grandly made him feel as if he towered over Sasuke.

Sasuke knew him as Inoichi Yamanaka. Head of the House of Yamanaka.

The man looked down upon him with piercing blue eyes and politely greeting him with a deep, resonate voice, "Ah, Sasuke-kun- do you mind if I call you that from now on?- good evening."

He did mind. Nobody but his uncle called him by his first name. But he decided it would not be wise to say so. What gave him the idea to start calling him that in the first place?

He chose not to ask but instead said, "Congratulations on your inheritance, Sir Yamanaka, many wishes that the House of Yamanaka benifits well from it."

Sasuke was well aware that the House of Yamanaka had inherited many estates from a will of a distant relative that had died a month ago. He remembered his uncle strongly and repeatedly suggesting to establish a good relationship with the family- not for their alliance, but their power. For the prize the House of Yamanaka had gained made them the second most powerful family in the country- after the House of Uchiha.

"And many wishes that our family's prosperities bring you joy as well." Inoichi Yamanaka replied as he walked with him into the dining room.

Sasuke looked at the man as they were led by a servant to their seats. What did he mean by that?

Instead of being seated at the head of the long table, they were lead to a private room filled with heavily scent roses. In the center was a single table of four. Four, rather than fifty.

But it was not the number of seats that surprised him the most.

It was the girl seated across from the entrance.

He realized that this wasn't a normal dinner celebration.

"Ah, Inoichi, it brings me much pleasure that you are here." He heard his uncle speak from behind him as he entered the room. "As for you Lady Ino. You look elegant tonight."

The girl stood and curtsied. She looked up and their eyes met. A blush crept up her pale skin, bright against her long, white-blonde hair and sky blue eyes.

"Now that all the guests of honor are here, we may start our celebration." He heard his uncle spoke.

He watched his uncle pour both himself and Sir Yamanaka a glass of wine, and then heard him say. "A toast," He raised his glass, "to the union of two great noble families."

Union?

All the voices around him became distant as questions filled his mind.

"What is the meaning of this?" He finally spoke quietly, but in a dark voice.

He needed an answer.

"Why, Sasuke-denka,"

He spun around at met his uncle face to face.

"I thought you were already informed of this arrangement weeks ago. But any how, I'm aware that you've met this young lady before in a ball,"

"Lady Ino Yamanaka."

"Our families have conversed and decided that,"

"You two are to be married"

* * *

**Hopefully this was a more exciting chapter than the last. Was it (please say yes!)? If so, then take it as an apology for my previous chapter. I didn't like it either, but I didn't know what to do.**

**Happy 4th of July. But there are no fireworks here...the Chinese don't celebrate it. Well, that makes sense I guess...it IS an American holiday.**

**Thanks for reading! Reviews are ALWAYS welcome! (or begged for cuz this fic probably is THAT bad...)**


	18. Tainted

**Chapter 18: Tainted**

**_No one shall know, we shall not exist in anyone else's eyes. For that to happen, we shall never speak of each other in another's ears. We do not exist when we are not together..._**

**_For if we did..._**

**_Surely they will try to tear us apart._**

**_No, this- these moments we share...they are for us only. _**

**_Untouchable by anyone but us._**

**_Untaintable._**

_That was the vow we made. _

_Do you still remember? _

_Or is the memory of us too painful, that you forgot?_

_Me...every word rings like the clock tower bell- clear, loud..._

_Constant._

_Maybe it's a blessing..._

_Or is it a punishment?_

_I still remember every second we spent together. _

_Perhaps God is cursing me, and I am repenting for the sins I darkened you with. God is making me pay by making me suffer..._

_The pain of longing for you. Wishing that you were back with me._

_How did it turn out like this? The promise we made was to ensure that nothing happened...to **us.** So we could remain forever..._

_Untaintable._

_Yet, it never really came to our minds, did it? It never really came to our minds that the one to taint us..._

_Would be me._

--

_Dear Sakura,_

_I know I will be unable to sleep easily tonight, even after leaving this letter for you. I must be weak, for right now, my heart aches to write this..._

_And yet it is you I am hurting. _

_You once told me that there are things a person cannot control..._

_Then please, please do not blame me for this- this horrible crime I have committed and might have to commit; of enduring...of breaking our promise. I do not want this, please understand that...I never will. _

_Just thinking of being pulled further from you, my heart throbs. Just please understand, that..._

_I don't have a choice._

_No matter how ironic it sounds- for after all, how could I, out of all kinds of people, feel like I have no control over my life?... But it is true. You believe me, right? Because you know that if I did- have a choice- I'd choose to be with you...right?_

_You know that I'd rather swear **forever **to you than anyone else. You know that you are the only one I want to vow to love till we die...and you know that I love you even more that even in heaven or hell shall I continue to love you. But instead..._

_But instead, Sakura...instead of saying your name in that vow that would have made us inseperate if our love wasn't forbidden..._

_I must say another's unfamiliar name. _

_I am to be married._

_-Sasuke_

The parchment fluttered to the ground from her paralyzed hands. She stood, silent. She didn't pick it up- she couldn't. Everything around her had turned to ice- cold. It was cold. So cold that maybe the air in her lungs had frozen...

Which was why she couldn't breathe.

_I am to be married..._

_Married..._

No. No, no, _no._

Those were the words that pounded her head. So loud, they hurt her ears. Hurt... Her chest hurt even more.

Her heart hurt even more.

He promised. They promised to be forever. This would break it. That...that _marraige._

No. It was not fair. He was just hers...No, they were each others.

He loved her.

And yet was suddenly being taken away.

Away. That meant living without him right? If so...she couldn't do it. Now that she knew was it was like to love him...

She couldn't stop.

There had to be a way-

"Sakura?"

She turned in the direction of the voice that woke her from her nightmares. Her green eyes met curious blue eyes- ones that belonged to her genuinely concerned friend.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" Naruto asked, and then saw the shhet of paper on the grass by her feet. "What's that? Is it yours-"

"Oh. That! Um, that's..." She tried to force a lie from her lips, about to pick it up.

"No, it's okay, I've got it." His fingers close to touching the parchment. Close to discovering their secret...

"No!" She quickly snatched it away.

She saw the expression on his face. It was of shock and hurt- now he knew that she was hiding something from him.

"Um...I mean, it's nothing important for you to see." She laughed. She could hear the fake laugh in her ears- she was horrible at lying. The sound of her lying voice stung her with guilt.

She saw Naruto's face turn stiff. It was anger, she could tell. "Sakura, I'm not stupid. You've been acting really weird lately. Don't try to hide it with your lame excuses, their too obvious anyway."

Friend's could still keep secrets from one another, right? She didn't have to tell him everything. Because he told her...he told her that no one would possibly let them be together if they knew. Even...even Naruto. Because he hated the Uchihas, and if she told him...

"I...I can't tell you."

"Sakura!"

And then she did the only thing she could do. She left her friend worrying for her alone...

And she ran.

--

A pale moonlight beamed down on the palace garden, turning the stone wall of a tower white. Flowers stood silent, content with the warm night air. A grand water fountain- old, for lush green vines crept over the marble irovy base- made a gentle, watery drum. Towering over it all, in the corner of the garden, was the cherry blossom tree, with its pink flowers in full bloom.

The clock tower in the center of the village played its midnight bells.

Sakura tacked her letter to the tree. Usually after doing this, she would leave- after all, nighttime was when she caused havoc in the palace. But today, she was reluctant to leave. Or, more truthfully...

She didn't want to face Naruto.

So instead of leaving, she walked out of the shadow of the flower tree and down the stone path. She had never really paid attention to the rest of the garden, but now that she did, she realized how familiar it seemed. As if she had grown it herself, or spent much of her past in it...

But that couldn't be possible, right? She laughed at herself. Somehow, this place always gave her the sense of homesickness. But she was just a village girl- a street rebel. She didn't belong here, in a fancy palace.

"Sakura?"

She heard her name...in his voice. She turned, and felt her worries melt away. Their eyes met. She didn't know what to say. The words she wanted to speak refused to come to her tongue: _What will we do?_

Except thinking about their future, and how it might have to be spent seperated...it made her eyes sting.

He seemed to sense her sorrow. For the next thing she knew, he was next to her. And she was in the protection in his arms. Close to him...where she felt like she belonged.

She found the courage to ask, "Do you think we'll stay together?"

He didn't respond. Instead, she felt his embrace tighten as he held her closer to him. Perhaps that was a good enough answer, for it made her feel safer.

That moment felt like infinity. She wished it could last longer.

"Sasuke-denka!" A female's voice called from the garden entrance. She noticed vaguely that it belonged to a pale, elegant girl with striking blue eyes and beautiful long hair.

She looked up at his gray eyes. They seemed to be in pain too. Did they notice her jealousy? Her worriy that perhaps...he might grow to love someone other than her?

He gently brushed his lips against hers as he whispered.

"I love you. I always will, I promise."

They parted.

--

His words gave her the courage to return back to her place in the forest. To face Naruto, without guilt, for her lying was for his sake. Their sake. Her lying...she was doing a good thing.

_"I love you. I always will, I promise."_

Her heart skipped a beat when she heard his words replay in her mind. She could feel herself with a faint smile on her lips, and the heat in her face felt warm and comforting.

But then she entered the forest clearing and saw nothing left. Burnt trees, dead grass, broken trees. That wasn't what she worried of first.

Where are they? Temari? Rin? Konohamaru?

Naruto?

What happened?

She noticed a shadow standing in her way, a few yards from her.

She knew that shadow well.

Her closest friend, her childhood friend...Naruto.

"Under the starlight sky when the moon is the highest, we are the closest. We will always be together as long as nobody should know. About you, about me, about us. About how I love you." She heard his voice speak. It seemed dark in fury, betrayal.

Her eyes widened, she heard- no she read that...

"Love, Sasuke." He finished.

"You..." She was breathless in shock. He knew that quote...

"I read it." The moonlight shifted to his figure. She could see the black ash smeared across his face, mixed with sweat. The burn marks all over his arms and legs. "I read it all."

She didn't speak. She couldn't find anything to say. But she heard herself start to ask- to try to avoid the topic- "What ha-

"What happened? I'll tell you what happened! They came and burned this place looking for you! The whole place was on fire and all the others, they didn't know what to do! Did you know what they did?" His voice rose to a yell. "Did you know what they did- Konohamaru, Rin, and all the others?!!"

He didn't let her answer.

"They were screaming for you! And you,"

"You weren't there!"

"You know why you weren't there?!" He must have known that she couldn't say anything, so he screamed, "You didn't care! All you cared about was the fuckin' Uchiha!" He spat.

"You're wrong!" She finally spoke in a hoarse whisper. She wanted to cry for some reason, but that would be weakness in his eyes, so she held the tears back. "I do-

"You care?!" He finished for her and gave a delirious laugh. How much it hurted her. "Yeah right! If you cared, you would've been there for us! You would've been there with me to save them!"

"I you cared, you would've told me!" His voice broke. The tears were too hard to hold back anymore, they flowed down his cheeks rapidly.

"Told you? Told you!" She felt the anger starting to bubble over guilt. Maybe it was better that way, guilt seemed to hurt more.

"You wouldn't have cared! All you cared about was killing him! You never would have understood!"

"No."

He spoke quietly.

"You know what? I wouldn't have. I wouldn't have understood why you liked that murderer. That person who's ruined this village. I thought you felt the same."

"You don't get it. He's different-

"No! He's not. Because if he was, everything would've changed by now! Everybody would be happy, and we wouldn't have to be living like this!" His blue eyes flashed in fury, "He's like the rest of them. A selfish, bastard, Uchiha!"

"Just...you don't know him! Just give him a chance...Naruto..." She felt too weak to yell anymore, so helpless. She pleaded her friend softly.

"Never." His eyes burned a cerulean blue. Bright flames of hatred. "Never. I will never accept that low, greedy, son of a bitch. Him and the rest of his disgusting family. And you wouldn't have either, if you hadn't been brainwashed by him. I thought you were better than this, Sakura. Don't you get it?" His voice started to raise, until he yelled the very last words that froze her.

"He's just using you!"

"Shut up!" She screamed. Tears shone in her eyes. She didn't want to hear anymore.

"You're wrong! Everything you said is wrong!" She heard herself, desperate.

"He...He loves me!

For me!"

He did. He did. She told herself in her mind.

Naruto...he would _never _understand.

She left him, leaving only her tears behind.

--

"Sakura!?" She heard his voice ask as she burried herself into his shoulder, where she was safer.

She didn't care if it made her seem pathetic, she sobbed. Maybe he could take away some of her pain. She hiccuped in between tears, still trying to regain breath after running from the forest and to the palace.

To him.

"What's wrong? What happened?" His voice sounded worried for her. So loving, so caring...

He couldn't be using her. Naruto...he was wrong.

Sasuke...Sasuke loved her for her.

It was all real.

His love was real.

She realized as he comforted her without words- knowing that she was too teary to speak...

That they couldn't be...as long as they were _here._ For _nobody _would let them be, _nobody _understood.

"Ne, Sasuke." She whispered over his shoulder.

"Sakura?"

"Let's run away."

* * *

**A/N: No words to say. My mother's pushing me to get sleep anyway. So...**

**Thanks for reading! Reviews are more than welcome!!!!!**


	19. Dream

**Chapter 19: Dream**

_Do you know, that everytime I sleep...I dream of you?_

_That sleeping, closing cmy eyes...is the only time I am every truly happy?_

_Smiles are the easiest way to tell how someone is feeling- for of course they are happy. That's what you used to say. Remember that?_

_But did you know...that smiles are the best way to disguise your greif as well?_

_I do._

_I smile when I am not alone. _

_T__hey think I'm happy, my life is whole. _

_But it's not._

_They don't know that my heart is empty and shattered. _

_They don't know me._

_They don't know that the smile they see on my face everyday..._

_is fake. _

_I smile when I sleep though, did you know that? It's a real smile too._

_For when I dream, I dream of you. When I clsoe my eyes, I am somewhere else. Somewhere else, where you are in my arms, and that floral scent you always had about you, that sweet chime laugh your voice carried, that angelic smile your face shone with..._

_So real. It always seems so real._

_I am free. We are together. We are unbreakable. _

_Forever._

_But then I wake._

_And the heaven I dreamed of- of us and eternity- is fake. An illusion. Again._

_I am back to my same broken self again. My heart ache returns._

_And you are gone again._

--

He returned to reality. Awake.

Suddenly, he was aware of the hard wood against his back, the hushed flow of water close by, the summer air blanketed over him.

He felt a warm breath brush his skin and realized he was holding something gently, holding something protectively. Something precious...

His eyes fluttered open.

His eyes met a serene expression, with closed eyes framed with long eyelashes, softly parted lips...She was so close to him. He could see that her cheeks were stained with tears, and close enough to know that her dreams were not peaceful, for a sparkle threatened to trickle down.

He brushed the tear aside gently with his thumb and kissed her softly on the forehead, brushing away the stray strands of her pink hair. Hopefully it would sweep away a little bit of her burdens. Although he knew a simple touch- especially his- wouldn't have the power to rid all of her sadness.

He brought himself to pull away from her and sit up, realizing that he was just lying down, with her sleeping sideways next to him in his arms. He shivered, the breeze felt chilly, yet it was summer. It was cold without her touch.

He saw her stir next to him. If she woke, he wouldn't be so lonely, he could talk to her more...

He took off his long coat and stiffled a sneeze- careful not to wake her. He layed the coat over her, perhaps if it was warmer, her dreams would be sweeter.

He pulled his eyes away from her, it was hard, but he was curious to see their whereabouts. Rolling hills, golden meadows, the calm river they were above...Right, they were on a river, with the boat that they stole...

So they could run away.

That was last night, it was late afternoon now. They were far from home now.

Far from their troubles...his kingdom...her village...

That meant they could be together now, right?

After all, here, where no one knew them...nobody could object their bond. No, they left everyone they knew behind them. They could be together now.

So why did it feel so wrong?

He could feel emotion rising to a lump in his throat, tasting bitter in the back of his mouth. It was guilt. Guilt, because it's his fault that she fought with her closest friend. His fault that she is confused and shattered inside- not sure about what is right and wrong.

Perhaps hating him would've been better for her.

As if she sensed his insecurity, she woke, her eyelashes rising to unveil rose-leaf green eyes. Although he submitted to his feelings for her a month ago, she still gave him that same awed, breathless effect as she did when he first saw her. And now, being so close to her, she seemed more beautiful than ever. But she, angelic and pure as she seemed, was stained. For she was with him. And she has woken up from a nightmare, cried, burdened, betrayed her vows...Because of him.

Why did she love him?

The question must have been in his eyes. For when she looked at them, she spoke softly: "When I first met your eyes, that first night you arrived at the palace, something clicked in me. It was as if I had finally found something that I was looking for my whole life...I found you."

"And losing you, the idea of it, it makes me feel as if I would be alone forever…"

Maybe it was his imagination, wishful hallucination, for her words were barely audible. But he thought he heard her say that.

A sudden movement of the boat ruined the moment and its potential, and threw her back. She tried to maintain balance, but started to fall towards the water. He grabbed her in time, and the moment they touched…he could've sworn he saw something spark between their fingertips. The feeling that rushed through him caught him off guard, and soon he found himself falling with her. He pulled her towards him.

If she were to fall, surely she must fall unalone…

Maybe he pulled too hard, or maybe it was simply meant to be, that some other unexplainable force was in control…but their lips met.

Warmth, thrill, love…wonderful emotions rushed into him like a waterfall the second he felt her lips. Her kiss, it was like tasting the fragrance of flowers, honey, heaven, all at once. He closed his eyes and let the feeling take over, let it wrap him and whisk him away from his surroundings…

With something soft underneath him, he realized that he was on the ground. And the sweetness, the beauty that rushed in him like wind, flowed like music, tumbled like rain slowly began to fade. Only air brushed his lips now. He opened his eyes and saw that she had pulled away.

Still, she was close, for he found his arms around her waist, and her breaths felt gentle on his face. Her eyes looked up slowly, as if shy to meet his. And in that moment, they looked at each other in silence, sharing love with words only they could hear.

She smiled, how gentle it seemed. The way the expression floated on her face, made everything about her seem soft like angel wings. He could feel how hot his body was and the heat crept up his neck. He felt his lips arch at the corners as well. That was the effect her happiness always had on him.

She reached out and touched his cheek, set a wonderful warmth to spread across his skin. And then she whispered, "It's not a dream is it? This whole thing? I have dreams all the time just like this, and they all seem so real. But then I wake up and realize they're not."

"So do I." He replied quietly. He could find nothing else to offer, for he was also uncertain of how real the moment they shared was.

They stayed like that, the moment pulled on to sundown. She laid her head near his chest, he held her close so she could never be away from him again. How beautiful that feeling was; the touch of her soft skin brushing his, the peaceful puff of each breath she exhaled, the synchronicity he could hear with their heartbeats. Even an afternoon seemed like seconds.

She broke the somber moment by laughing. She did that often between the two of them- she was always the light.

He raised an eyebrow, and smiled with her. Her giggles were like chimes and so naturally beautiful, what could he do but laugh with her? "What's so funny?"

She replied gently with a touch of nostalgia clouding her expression. "A month ago, if someone mentioned love to me, I would've just laughed in their face." She looked up at him, and with that look on her face, he knew that she understood him well enough to know that he would've denied love as well. "It's just that…if the old me were to look at me now…I must be insane."

"Insane…" His lips mouthed the word. Too quiet to be heard by her.

Insane. How did she know his past self would've thought the same?

He smiled at her, "We are pretty different than others, aren't we?"

"Different?" She stood up, he sat up, eyes following her. Her back was turned toward him as she tilted her head up to the just-woken stars in the newly painted dark blue sky. And the way the moon gazed down on her, with its pale light sprinkling silver onto her skin…

"I think it's special. That's because I really think…" She looked back at him and smiled a smile that shone the brightest, most hopeful light he had seen in his lifetime.

"That we can be forever."

He watched her with that light dancing in her eyes like stars of their own, outshining the ones above. And somewhere in the back of his mind, or maybe in the distance, he heard church bells ringing.

He turned, and realized that they were in front of an old church. He looked up in the sky, saw how high the moon was above them and realized-

"Midnight…it's midnight." She breathlessly said in that soft voice that always took a few of his heartbeats.

Wind blew a caressing breeze, tugged a tree flower off its branch and set it free. And the small cherry blossom fluttered, down…down…

Into his hands.

And maybe it was her voice, the pure ring to it. Maybe it was the thrill of the clock towers chiming midnight. Maybe it was something that he would never be able to understand. But something pulled him up to his feet. Walked him over behind her, and brought him down to his knees.

What ran through his mind at that moment, he could not distinctly tell. But he loved her. He loved her. And maybe he wasn't worth her time, maybe she didn't need him...but he needed her. And in midnight, where their love was the highest in the sky...higher than the moon...that was when they could prove that they could be forever... And tonight, maybe they could be even closer...

"Sakura..."

She turned, saw how he kneeled before her, with the small cherry blossom held up to her...and she knew. Her hands flew to her lips, where a gasp escaped from her lips. Tears came to her eyes.

"Will you marry me?-

"Yes..." She breathed, only happiness could be heard in that sweet voice. And she accepted the small flower, threw her arms around him and whispered stronger.

"Yes!"

--

"Will you take me as your wife? Though I bear the name of your family's sworn enemy...will you promise to stay with me? Can you let me live this moment- that seems like a dream- and never allow me to wake? Will you love me forever?"

He looked down at her, her angelic face the only beauty he could see. This face, these eyes, this smile...he would never grow tired of seeing. And in the empty church, with moonlight beaming through stained glass and shining on only them...she was the one shining brightest. She was the only angel, more pure than even the statue of a woman with wings they stood in front of at the front of the chruch hall. She was the only one he loved and would ever love.

"Yes." His voice resonated in the air. Quiet, like her whisper, yet it seemed loud. For it was unwavering. He had never been more sure of himself in his life. He spoke fiercely, "'Robin Hood' means nothing to me. For you are only you- and that is all you will ever need to be. I love you Sakura, I will protect you from any hurt."

She smiled that faint kind of smile that always reminded him of feathers and wings. So delicate, so hopeful. She smiled that kind of smile, that let him know she believed him. "Your turn." She whispered.

He took a silent breath and then spoke in a barely audible voice. "Will you, take me as your husband? Will you love a sinful person like me? Can you promise to stay by me? For I don't want to wake up from this dream either..."

_You may kiss the bride _was not needed. He already found himself drawing closer to her lips. Only a breath from sealing their vows...

A knock froze him. And suddenly, all the lights, the brightness that danced in the air dimmed away. He looked back at her, she looked back with wide eyes.

Another knock. This time more forceful.

"Open up! This is an order!"

No. It coudln't be. He knew that voice anywhere.

"Sasuke..." She whispered.

He held her tight, took one last look at her. "You have to go before he catches you."

"But-

"I promise. I promise we'll meet again. Now go!" He did not want to part either, but if she were to get caught with him...if his uncle hurt her...he would never forgive himself.

He felt her fingers slip away, and his body became winter again. He turned and watched her give him a wistful, broken glance and then jump out one of the windows.

The large door slammed open, and in walked none other than his uncle. Madara Uchiha. Behind him trailed a troop in an orderly line.

"Ah, Sasuke! We were looking all over for you!" His grin was wide. Why? Something was wrong.

He began his lie cautiously, "I needed some air so I came here-

"What do you mean?" He saw that sickening grin on the pale face grow wider. "You're plan was perfect."

"Plan?" He panicked inside. What plan?

"Why, your plan to bait the Robin Hood from the village." Those red eyes gleamed.

"Now the whole village is gathered at the square, all about to be killed.

And the Robin Hood will have no choice but to sacrafice himself."

His eyes widened. Paralysis numbed him. But somehow his head managed to look out the window. And he thought he saw her. Then he knew that she heard his uncle's words.

Her face was drained gray, her eyes large with shock, shaking in fear.

And he could do nothing but watch her run.

* * *

**A/N: I think this was the most romance I've put into a chapter yet! Whew! **

**I'm back from China! I bought loads of anime stuff, which is so exciting! **

**Sorry about not uploading last week, I was without a computer where I was. **

**And thanks for all your comments! I know I got a suggestion (you know who you are), and I think it's great! But unfortunately, I already had some things planned out and in store for you all! **

**And I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, so I'll just say it again just in case. I did not think of this all on my own (I'm not that smart). This was inspired by Romeo x Juliet indeed, so that's why there are so many similarities. And those letters...they're inspired by many books I read, paticualarly Mercy by Jodi Picoult.**

**Keep reading please!!!**


	20. Fall

**Chapter 20: Fall**

_I've always envied you. You must've already known that though. I must be natural for someone as low, as little as me to want to be someone…someone as beautiful, shining so brightly as you._

_But the envy I had for you…_

_It was different._

_I wanted to be with you. _

_I only wanted to be able to be as high as you were. For I remembered that when you were still here, you seemed so close to the stars…_

_And maybe it wasn't true, maybe love made illusions, but I swore that the day we thought we could finally be together…_

_You had wings._

_They were faint, and perhaps it was the way the moonlight hit you…But the moment I saw your smile, I thought…_

_You were so perfect._

_And I, I was so lucky to be able to see your smile._

_So lucky to have you love me._

_And that moment, that brief second I saw silver feathers floating behind you…_

_I almost thought that I could fly with you. _

_Maybe I did. Maybe I did fly with you._

_Maybe I flew too high._

_For now, now when I see the birds fly overhead. I pity them._

_For if they fly too high…_

_Surely the fall will be too painful._

_That's what I learned after you left. Did this ever cross your mind as well?_

_And if it did…Did you believe it was my fault?_

_For surely your pain must be far past unbearable. Worse than the emptiness that gnaw at my heart._

_Some people say that when your envy grows too strong, the sin can summon demons to fulfill your wish. _

_And for that reason, I envy you in another way._

_I envy you for where you are right now._

_For if the demons were to ever fulfill my wish, we would switch places._

_And instead, I would be the one to fall deep into darkness, even past the ground. And I would be the one suffering your pain. _

_I would be getting what I deserved._

--

Faster.

That's all she could think of, although her legs ached, tears blurred her eyes…

And that thumping in her heart. It hurt so much.

For on that beautiful night with the moon at its pinnacle and the field like an ocean of gold…

They were going to die.

Die…

She ran through a thorn bush, ignoring the fresh cuts on her skin. That didn't matter. That didn't hurt as much.

Fear hurt more.

Guilt hurt more.

It was all her fault. She wasn't there.

Had she been, it wouldn't have happened.

How could she have been so reckless?

She gasped. Air was slipping from her lungs. Her hatred for herself choked her.

But she could save them…she could still save them…

She stumbled, realizing she had reached the river she had to cross. She ignored the fact that her cuts stung as water tried to push her along.

What was she doing this for? A small voice asked, its question rang so clear through the rest of her muddled, confused thoughts.

Why was she running…for them?

Them…the ones who never understood her. Them…who never bothered to love the real her, only the Robin Hood who saved them. Them…who would scorn and shun her if they knew of her feelings for him.

Why was it worth it?

_Because they need me…_

_That is the place I am wanted, where people acknowledge me…even though I am known as the Robin Hood…_

_I am somebody there._

The village streets were empty. Not even dust blew by as the wind swept through the nothingness. Not a child running through the alleys, a woman waving hello. Nothing. And seeing nothing but the ghosts of what she wished she could see…

Her eyes must have been wide, for they hurt from not blinking for too long. And she brought a hand to her chest; maybe she would hear an echo…for that's how hollow she felt. For she had that feeling, where that howl of the wind was whispering in her ear.

_All your fault…_

She shattered herself from her heartbroken trance, tore away from the streets that were once familiar.

She heard a cry. Someone familiar…stung her heart even more.

Moegi.

She rushed to the town square, agilely jumped over crates and leapt her way up the roofs, all the way to the clock tower that stared down over the center of the village- where it was the highest, and she could see all that was going on.

And she wished she didn't.

For there on the clock tower that was closest to the sky, she could see everything. And everything included the villagers- her villagers- trapped in cages, being hoarded into a large bonfire.

Too much. There was too much to see at once.

The screaming. The smell of burning flesh. And that look…

That look of helplessness on each of their faces, even of those who burned to death. Still so determined, like they were waiting…

For her.

Her. The reason they were in this mess. Stupid, weak, uncaring her.

She felt blood trickle from her knuckles. She didn't care, she still wasn't gripping tight enough to match the anger she felt. And the hatred was even worse, guilt even more than that.

But the fear. That was what dominated her. With the fire blazing in front of her eyes, that large demon stealing innocent lives…

What should she do?

She frantically brushed through thoughts in her head, tried to clear her mind. But no matter what she did, she couldn't. She couldn't stop panicking.

She couldn't stop hating herself.

"Shut up little girl. You're not in the position to piss me off." A soldier jeered as he used his spear to jab an orange-haired girl that was none other than Moegi.

She saw Moegi look at him directly in the eye and speak clearly: "I'm not scared of you."

The soldiers laughed at this. And one of them mocked, "And how so?"

And with that fire in her eyes, she knew what she would say next would shoot her in the heart with guilt. She knew it would hurt…

"Robin will come. And he will save us all. I know so."

"Oh? Then where is he?" A smooth, deadly silky voice interrupted. It belonged to the man dressed in a shadowy dress coat, with snake long raven hair, and cold eyes of scarlet. That cruel heartless voice…

It belonged to no one else but an Uchiha.

"I-I…He's here somewhere! I know it!" She shot back. But there were tears starting to pool in her eyes.

The man simply looked at her, with that sick expression of bemusement in his eyes. And then he took a few steps closer to her, reached out to touch her cheek with a small dagger he held with his cold hand. "How confident you seem…But how can you be so sure that your little hero really cares?" He drew a line gently down her skin, a thin red line appeared on her right cheek.

Moegi yelped in pain.

"Hey! Don't touch her!" She saw Konohamaru struggle to reach her.

The Uchiha simply ignored him. He turned to look up at the buildings and announced in a loud voice, "Because I know you are there Robin Hood, I will make you a simple deal."

"Sacrifice yourself, and I will let your villagers go."

She bit her lip, and felt herself starting to shiver. For even she could tell…

There was no other way.

Sacrifice…sacrifice…

If she did that it would surely mean she would die, right?

And if she died…that was it, right? It meant not being able to breathe again, feel again…nothing.

She could save the village. She was their hero. She promised that didn't she? So what was holding her back now?

That was when she realized…

She didn't want to die.

"Hey, get down. They'll see you there if you stand there like that."

She turned to the direction of the whisper. That familiar voice that she had heard for nearly all her life.

"Naruto?"

He crouched in the shadows, watching the scene below as well. She never noticed him.

And she never felt so relieved in her life. "How did you…"

"I learn from the best." He gave her a smile that wasn't quite right.

Something dark in that smile…

Then she looked closer, and saw. He was wearing her cape and hood. Her outfit.

And then she realized what he was doing.

"No…" She whispered.

He must have known she had figured it out, for he gave her a sad smile.

Screams came down from the square.

No. This was not supposed to happen. He'd barely grown yet. He was so many words to her, too many to say.

"Naruto. You can't do this." She said. She could barely hear herself, maybe she was speaking too fast from fear.

"Please."

"There's no other way, Sakura."

"No. Please. Please." She begged. She couldn't lose him. Not him. She'd already lost too much. "There is another way. We'll find one. Just please…" Tears streaked down from her face.

"Don't go."

"My dream, from the moment I met you, was to be like you. And now's my chance. I can be the hero." He looked at her, with that determined look in his eyes, and that smile…that goodbye smile.

He was really going to do it.

He stood up.

She couldn't remember what she was saying to him. Only knew that she was pleading, with tears blurring her eyes and her cheeks stung from all the wetness. And her heart felt so shattered…everything hurt so much…

"Sakura."

She looked up at him. And at that moment, she almost saw Robin Hood…

"Just promise me one thing." He stared down at the scene below as he walked into the light.

"Live."

And then he jumped.

The next moments she lived, she could not recall them very well, for her hiccups and sobs deafened and blinded her. But she heard his voice call out from below:

"Let the villagers go!"

"For I am the Robin Hood!"

She forced herself to watch, as the villagers were let go, and that triumphant smile on the Uchiha's face…

And her best friend's death as he was shot through the heart by an arrow.

And even with the large bonfire before her eyes blinding her, she could see him fall to the ground. That was when she realized…

She would never have to chance to say sorry to him.

**

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A/N: I uploaded early this time! I know I usually upload once a week, but I was just so excited to get this one up!

**I hope my writing was good enough to make at least some of you all kind of sad…It sounds stupid but even I feel kind of depressed from writing this. Heh. **

**But to ruin my little emotional moment: Yay, this is a milestone for me! I finally made it to this part. I've actually been planning this part for months now, and I've already got most of the storyline down up to chapter 30 (yes, there will be that many.)**

**To answer a question that was asked to me about someone dying in the end of this fic: I can't tell. Sorry, you'll have to read on! **

**There may not be this Saturday because I'll be going to a small lil' anime convention in my state: the ConnectiCON. Just a heads up.**


	21. Lie

**Chapter 21: Lie**

_Whenever I was close to you, laughing, smiling, my that thing inside my chest- the one that they call a heart- felt so lifted of all the heavy ice to the point where it could almost fly._

_Almost._

_I say that, because if I had left that word out…that wouldn't be true. _

_It would be a lie, wouldn't it? _

_Because there was still something holding me back. Back from making that smile completely carefree, and that laugh fully one of happiness._

_For somewhere, deep in shadows of my heart that I didn't even know exist…_

_I was scared._

_Scared that this whole thing, you, me, us…it was all a lie._

_That it did not exist, and you did not love me. _

_And someday you would leave._

_That was my fear. I feared that you were lying to me. _

_For why wouldn't you? How did you ever come to smile at me like that? Why did you accept me? We were nearly opposites, and I was so cold and heartless. _

_It made sense didn't it?_

_To simply walk away from the cold and be with someone else that could protect you better._

_And…aren't I just so sinful, so selfish? Because when I think of you disappearing from my life…that feeling…_

_It's the loneliest feeling in the world._

_As if the world is dark and empty…with nobody there…_

_Except for me._

_And how pathetic is it, that the feeling of isolation…the feeling of being cold without your touch, happened even when you were standing there right beside me?_

_But…that's how lies work, right?_

_You can never tell anything. You can never trust anything. Yet I could not help but trust you, love you, for that small hope that everything might just turn out all right._

_But in the end…I was broken. I was wrong._

_For when you left, I saw that it all was a lie._

_Except it was not you that lied to me._

_It was me. _

_I lied to myself._

_I lied to you._

--

Nightmare.

That's all it was, a nightmare, right? Because soon, she would wake up and find him with his blue eyes peering over her, and then he would say: "Come on! Let's go hunting!" with that always-cheerful expression of his, and when he would catch the first game he would grin widely with pride, and…and…

She let out a sob. She didn't cover her face, nor did she try to muffle the sound. She just cried.

Because this nightmare, the nightmare was too real.

And she knew with the arrows buried in his chest and that lifeless expression on his face…

That she could not wake up.

That she would not be able to feel him shaking her awake again, or hear his loud laugh again, or teach him how to use a long bow.

And he…

He would never be able to hear how sorry she was.

She knelt by his lifeless body, her shoulders slumped over. She watched him sleep like that, with his eyes closed and his lips set in that same determined, stubborn line.

"Naruto…Naruto…" She whispered. Maybe he would miraculously wake up. Maybe fate, or whatever cruel force was controlling this, would give her a second chance.

But she knew it wouldn't.

It was raining now, and the heavy drops fell hard on her. A bright bolt ripped through gray clouds. She could only tell that by how wet her friend's cold skin was getting, and how blue suddenly lit up the stillness of his face.

She was aware how cold she was, how the cobblestone of the village square was cutting into her knees, how her long hair was hanging limp over her tearstained face.

But she was most aware now…

That she was all alone.

Not because the streets were now empty and all the villagers were home safe asleep as morning was about to come.

Because there was no one left for her. Her only friend was dead. And now she felt dead too.

And it was all her fault.

If she hadn't left them…If she hadn't ran away…

If she hadn't believed _him. _

"Well done Sasuke. Your plan was carried out perfectly." She was aware of the two shadows behind her, and heard a pair of footsteps walk away until she could hear nothing but the heavy rain again.

"Sakura…" She heard someone come near her. Felt a presence, a hand tried to reach out towards her.

Someone too familiar.

Hatred formed in her mouth.

She turned quickly, arming herself with her bow and an arrow that lay near her friend's limp body. In a second, she had her arrow drew back and pointed up right between the shadow's eyes.

Sasuke.

"Sakura…It wasn't me-

"Don't come any closer." She spoke, her voice like steel. Cold, heartless. She stared at him with matching eyes.

He looked desperate, took a step closer to her, "Just listen to me. I-

"I said don't come any closer!"

He froze. His gray eyes showed shock and hurt.

She couldn't recognize her own voice either. It was a scream filled with hatred.

"I didn't know. I didn't know anything." He pleaded.

"You didn't know? You didn't know?…" She slowly got up on her feet, it was painful, and she must've seemed so limp and fragile from the sorrow that ate away at her from the inside.

"You really expect me to believe that?" She looked down at her feet. She couldn't bear to look at his fake face. Her quiet but hysterical laugh died. "Everything here is all because of you…" Her voice rose.

"Because of you, my best friend's dead!"

She let the arrow fly. But her aim failed her, for she was too lost in fury to hit well. He dodged it.

"Just let me explain-

"No. You don't need to explain anything. I know now. I thought you were different and I thought you loved me. But I was wrong." She shook, she grabbed her sword and gripped it tight.

"It was all just a lie, right? The whole time. You never meant anything you said. You only wanted me dead."

"I was so stupid. But I know now. I know now that you're the same as the rest of your family! Shameful, selfish, and heartless!" She ran at him, at attacked.

He blocked her with his sword. They met eyes.

"Are you happy now?! The Robin Hood is dead!" Tears poured down her cheeks, mixing in with the rainwater. He might've seen it as a weakness, but she didn't care. She struck at him with all her power she could.

All the hatred, all the hurt.

It was him. It was all him.

He never loved her, he never cared. He was an Uchiha, and she was the Robin Hood. How could she had been so stupid?

But he…he let her hopes up. Blinded her with his fake illusions.

And it was all just a lie.

"Sakura, please, listen to me!"

"You have to believe me!"

"I…I love you."

"Shut up. Shut up!" She screamed and then attacked him again.

She could hear him trying to calm her down, trying to convince her it wasn't him. But she wasn't going to fall for him anymore. She knew better now. She knew never to trust him.

"Lies. They're all lies!" Hatred burned in her eyes.

When he gave up on trying to talk to her, he only blocked her. And through the blur of the rain, she could see the resolve in his eyes not to fight back.

"Fight back!" She screamed. She knew he could hear her, even through the deafening rainstorm and the cracking of thunder. She knew he was purposely not fighting back. She didn't even know where in the village they were anymore. Only revenge, only hatred…

"Fight back you coward!"

But he wouldn't.

And she was tiring. The sorrow, that cold heavy feeling inside her was all too much. She could taste the saltiness of her tears that never seemed to end, and she could hear herself hiccupping. She was still crying.

But her anger drove her through exhaustion. She found an opening and then disarmed him. His long sword fell to the ground, too far from his reach.

The blow knocked him over. And she lost her balance, falling with him. Somewhere, she felt the necklace that she always wore break and clattered on the ground. But that didn't matter. All she could see was him.

And she realized why this moment seemed just like deja-vu.

It was like when they first fought each other again.

He was on the ground, staring up at her. She was bent over him, on both hands and knees with exhaust. Her face, her lips so close to touching his. She could see both their breaths come up in puffs, into each others' faces. And those stormy gray eyes of his showed loneliness and hurt…

But it was all fake. He was fake. He was the enemy. He was the killer.

And she hated him.

The rain fell over them, and she could see droplets fall fast on his face. Or were those her tears?

Somehow, as he stared at her…his eyes, how she hated that look in his eyes. That distant look that she'd never seen before, that look that seemed so calm yet pained, like he _knew_…

"Sakura." His lips parted, and her named slipped out so easily.

"Don't say my name. I hate you, you filthy liar. You mean nothing to me anymore." She whispered fiercely, she had no more strength left to scream at him.

"Then kill me."

She had the sword near his throat, only inches from her promise. Inches from what could've been happily ever after. Revenge.

Only inches.

But although she wanted to blame him for everything, although she hated him for his lies, his deceit, she realized…

"I can't." She whispered.

She could only cry.

**

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A/N: I can't wait to upload more for you all! The chapters after this is where Sakura's little fuzzy blurbs of memories come into play! Oh, and about the necklace thing falling off, that's important too. I hope most of you caught that. And some minor characters that you've been introduced to before will come to be of use…

**This is one of my only original parts here. Hehe. I can't really take credit of all my writing because it's always inspired or sort of plotted like another book or show. But I don't think there was a part like the one I've written in Romeo x Juliet…**

**Thanks for reading! And even more thanks if you comment!**


	22. Truth

**Chapter 22: Truth**

_I wrote to you about lies before when we were still together. And then I remember you replying: _

"_If our fear for lies are so alike…then why don't we make a promise to tell the truth?"_

_Because maybe you understood me. Or maybe you just simply pitied me. _

_Maybe you were like me, and you knew that lies were only frightening because they are like hidden knives. For the moment those false words come off one's lips, you are unharmed and will stay unharmed until you discover that it was all a lie._

_And sometimes…you never find out._

_In that sense, it's like being slowly hurt without even knowing it._

And not knowing… That's even worse, isn't it?

_And that's what I did to you. I slowly broke your heart, and you didn't know. Because I promised that we would stay forever. And I lied. But you found out eventually._

_That's how you left._

_I lied. Instead of telling the truth…but, perhaps you wouldn't understand if I told you…but I was even more afraid of the truth than the lies._

_With truths…you know. Because that's what truths are all about, right? Knowing?_

_And once you know, you cannot forget. _

_Truths are not like lies. They hurt longer. They do not give you time to keep living the happier life of unawareness._

_Truths hurt more._

_And maybe it was for that reason that I lied to you. Because I did not want to lose sight of that smile and those shining eyes of yours to tears. _

_Maybe I was simply selfish. For I only longed for you to warm the ice cold blood in me, and maybe I didn't care whether or not you were happy yourself. _

_Or maybe…I didn't know that I was lying to myself._

_Maybe I was just too weak._

_I only thought about saving myself from the truth._

"_Truths are the words that bring two people closer than lies." That is what I have once heard a priest say. _

_How ironic, those very words were lies of their own. _

_Truths were the things that pulled us further from each other._

--

Black.

The world around her was so dark and cold. But she saw a small light in the distance. She started to reach out for it, run towards it, and it grew larger…larger…warmer…

Grey. White…

She sat up.

She realized the darkness was from her closed eyes. But that cold feeling didn't leave for some reason…

Her hand went subconsciously to her neck, where the necklace she had always worn as a little girl would always be. Then she realized she must have lost it somewhere…

Then she remembered. Everything.

"Naruto." She whispered. His name had an empty feeling to it now, as if just that word scooped out everything she had inside her.

She did not care that she was in a place she did not know. On a bed that was not her's. And the person sitting at the bedside was a stranger.

"Where's Naruto?" She asked, her voice stronger. She could hear the delirium in her own voice.

Maybe it was all just a dream…

The girl that sat next to her only gave her a sympathetic smile that faded when she spoke softly, "I'm sorry…"

"It was real then." Part of her still wanted to hold on to thinking that this was all a dream. But now…that part of her was gone. And it left her with the sudden pain regret and loss.

She wanted to cry, but her eyes were dry. She did not have enough tears to match the ache she felt.

He was gone. Her best friend was gone.

Her life would never be the same again.

"What do I do?" She whispered. It was suddenly as if she was a little girl again. Like the time when she woke up on the streets with no one, nothing.

The girl handed her a cup of tea. Then it hit her that she was in a completely foreign room- they could be plotting against her.

She looked at the girl carefully; she didn't seem like someone who would hurt her. With short black hair and misty pale eyes, she seemed too gentle and too honest.

"Where am I?" She asked. Her voice sounded so weak and wispy.

She noticed how fragile yet expensive the cup she held in her had was. And then saw the warm fire glow coming from under a marble mantle- no one in the village had the money to even have a fireplace…

And the clothes the girl wore, it was spotless and in one piece. The lace that hung off her sleeves, the silvery thread that shone against dark blue satin, and the cerulean brooch with a sun glowing in the center…

"You're a-

"Hyuuga." She finished for her with a gentle, hospitable smile. "You are in the chateau of the House of Hyuuga."

Royals…She was in a royal's home…which meant that…

She tried to get up but fell- her legs felt wobbly. The girl caught her before she hit the ground, genuinely troubled and concerned by her health.

"Are you all right? Please don't strain yourself too much!" She helped her back onto the bed.

"Don't. Touch. Me!" She jerked away from the girl and then yelled, "Who are you? Why did you bring me here?!" She had so many more questions.

Why was she asking anyway? It didn't matter. She was a royal.

Just like him.

The teacup fell to the ground and shattered. Tea slowly spread on the carpeted ground.

But the young woman didn't seem to mind. She only smiled sadly at her and cleaned the mess. As if she knew a secret she didn't. Somewhere in her mind whispered that she wanted to know…

Sakura stopped to watch her pick up the shards of porcelain. A royal cleaning after someone…

The girl got up, the smile on her was understanding and somehow calming. She was about to leave when she stopped at the doorway.

"Hinata Hyuuga."

Sakura looked up at the girl. And she returned her gaze with gentle, patient eyes. Then she softly spoke.

"I hope you are able to recover soon, Sakura-hime."

She left.

She left leaving Sakura to stare at the empty doorway in bewilderment.

How did she know her name?

--

She must have drifted back to sleep again, for she found herself opening her eyes, finding the sky black behind the drawn curtains and seeing the hands on the clock in a different position than before.

Ten minutes before both the hour and minute hand met at twelve. Midnight…

The word brought wave of sadness and memories that crashed inside her. At first, a flame of anger overcame her, and she gripped her sheets tightly. But then she loosened her grip and lost her strength; nothing was left for her…

_I hope you are able to recover soon…_

She looked at herself in the mirror placed on the desk across the room. The scratches on her arms were already better, and the dirt on her face was already gone. The girl in the reflection looked healed.

But she didn't feel healed at all.

The thought of that girl's- Hinata- words brought her back to what she was trying to figure out before.

How did she know?

She found herself standing up, realizing once she looked down that someone had changed her into a silk nightgown. She felt the smooth, richness of the material in amazement, she had never had more than two sets of clothes before, and…

Why was she being so kind to her?

She walked out her room and down the dark hall. Everyone must have been asleep. Looking to both her sides, she saw portraits of more royals. Beautiful young woman dressed in huge gowns, handsome men well shaved and dressed.

She looked at them all with awe.

She found the staircase and peered down, noticing a dim yellow light waxing and waning from below. Quietly, she lightly went down the stairs. She continued down yet another hall, feeling something calling out to her.

It was odd. Somehow, somewhere in her body was pulling her to keep walking…whispering that there was something that must be seen, be known…

There was a secret hidden here. Something important. Something precious.

She stopped.

On the right wall hung a banner. A family crest that was not of a sun like that Hyyuga House, but a pink cherry blossom on a swirling stem. Beneath it was a large picture. Larger than any of any of the portraits she had passed by. This one towered over her. This one…this one seemed…

Familiar.

There was a woman with a gold tiara laced atop her long cherry blossom hair. Her spring green eyes seemed to look down on her with motherly expression. And the man that stood behind her held her, his darker green eyes also kind to her…

But the girl. The little girl that the couple both seemed to cherish so much. That little girl was the one that seemed most familiar.

With that huge smile, the not-yet-grown-out pink hair, and those shining green eyes.

She knew her. Somewhere…

She reached out to touch it. See if it was real. And it was. Her finger slid down the glass and to the engravement on the golden frame.

"Haruno…House…"

The words came off her lips in a soft whisper. Comforting. Sad.

She stayed like that for a while, touching the faces of the family in longing and nostalgia. It was there where she felt as if she belonged, as if somehow, she could have been a princess in that portrait…

"12 years. It has been 12 years since the whole ruling family, the House of Haruno had been massacred and betrayed by the House of Uchiha…and your saying you have the last survivor?"

She heard a man's whisper come from the dimly lit room. She tore herself away from the portrait and slowly walked towards the room. She listened to the conversation behind the walls.

"Yes. I have uncle. I'm sure of it." Another voice. A young man's voice, spoke quietly back with certainty.

"And you think it's…"

"I'm sure it's her. The moment Uchiha Sasuke brought me that girl unconscious in his arms yesterday, both soaked from the rain, and begged me to keep her safe, I knew it was her."

Air was taken from her lungs. She stopped breathing. Her body felt rigid.

Her. They were talking about her.

They knew something. They knew who she was.

Silence.

And then the man spoke, as if his breath had been taken from him by disbelief.

"I always knew that Sayuri-denka had her suspicions of the Uchiha House, and I knew that she had arranged someone to take the little princess away before the massacre…but the carriage she took was ambushed, the driver was killed, and to think that she survived…"

"But she did Uncle. She is. The Haruno House can still regain their rule and the village can be revived again."

No. It was impossible. They were wrong. She couldn't be…

Everything seemed wrong. The air was too thick.

The young man's voice continued to whisper eagerly.

"It's her. That girl that Uchiha Sasuke brought, she is Sakura."

"Sakura Haruno."

"The sole survivor of the House of Haruno-

"You're lying."

She must have stepped out of the shadows. For she could see their shocked eyes on her through the mist that blocked her eyesight. She saw their lips move, and they were about to bow…

This was wrong. She…she was not a royal. She…she was just Sakura. Robin Hood. She was not, was never a princess. She never had a family…

It was all impossible.

But before she could say anything…

Everything went black again.

**

* * *

**

A/N: Before some of you decide to skip this, I suggest you read it because I am going to explain some things.

**Okie dokie now! So now we all know that Sakura is a princess, and the only one in her family, who survived a massacre by the Uchihas. So things are starting to pull Sakura and Sasuke apart in many different ways…just something to think about.**

**Denka, the honorific, can also mean Queen by the way. I just want to clear that up.**

**The sun symbol is a crest of the Hyuuga family. And the cherry blossom symbol is the Harunos'. **

**And Sayuri is the name I have taken the liberty to give Sakura's mother (aka the former Queen). It means Little Lily. Another flower-ish name. I thought it suited the whole flower theme.**

**Thanks for reading! Review please!**


	23. Remembrance

**Chapter 23: Remembrance**

_I remember…_

_you._

_That every time I was too solemn you would put a finger- your index finger- on my forehead and bring me to look you in the eyes. And then you would laugh in that way that could uplift anything._

_I remember…_

_That you had a habit of bringing your hand- your right one- to your neck to touch that necklace of yours. It was gold, with a pink crystal carved into the shape of a cherry blossom with a swirling stem of green crystal. You touched it when you felt uncertain, uneasy._

_I remember…_

_That you loved flowers, which was why you always were in the palace gardens. You loved cherry blossoms the most because it made you feel safe and loved. And you would always stand underneath a cherry blossom tree when you saw one, raise your head up to the pink petals and let them shower you with falling flowers. _

_I remember…_

_I remember everything about you. _

_Remembering is supposed to be a wonderful thing. That's what someone told me once. For memories are something people cannot steal, and memories are precious things that are yours alone. Memories are blessings._

_My memories haunt me._

_Because for every smile I see now…your smile replaces it. The gentle curve of your lips, and the way it slightly parted when you giggled…_

_And then it disappears. A reminder to me for the sins I have done._

_Every time I see sweet pudding…moonlight …books…_

_It is always you spooning vanilla pudding with that child-like smile…you looking at the moon with that serene face that stole my heart…you quietly mouthing the words as your finger slowly dragged across the page…_

_Everything…everywhere…_

_You are there._

_And so in everyplace I see you, there is guilt. _

_They say that the more you remember, the more you are at peace._

_That is false._

_I remember every smile, every hand gesture, every step you made._

_And the memory of it hurts too much._

--

"_Mommy? Daddy?" _

_Her parents were sleeping in the foyer. And they were sleeping funny too. There was red everywhere, on their faces and on the walls. Their shadows looked red too._

_All her cousins and aunts and uncles weren't sleeping in their rooms either, and they were all in red too._

_It was scary. She didn't like it._

"_Mommy? Daddy? Wake up…" She whispered. _

_She took a baby step forward, too afraid to touch the red. Her daddy's eyes were really wide and she could see red lines like lightning in the really glassy white. And her mommy had red coming out of her lips. _

_Why wouldn't they wake up?_

"_Wake up please…please…"_

_She was too afraid to walk into the large room where they lay. The shadows seemed too long there, and she saw someone standing by her parents. His eyes were just like the red on her mommy and daddy, and he looked like those things she read in books._

_They were called monsters._

_She started to cry. And then she saw the monster look her way. _

_Someone covered her mouth. She tried to scream._

"_Shh..Shh…" Someone shushed quietly._

_She knew that voice and looked back. It was his daddy's friend. Hizashi-san._

_But the smile that was always on his face was gone. And his face looked really stiff with sadness and anger. It frightened her even more as he held her hand too tightly, and led her out the palace._

"_But what about mommy and daddy? Why are we leaving them behind? We have to wait for them to wake up…"_

_She found a carriage waiting for her outside, and a large trunk. _

"_What's happening?" _

"_Sakura-hime…" Hizashi-san knelt down and looked her in the eyes. There was water in the corners, she could see them. "Your going to go on a very long trip."_

"_Why? Why aren't mommy and daddy coming? Why are all of them asleep?"_

"_No…this is a trip you need to take by yourself." The smile on his face looked forced. Like he really wanted to cry but he couldn't._

"_Alone?" She whimpered._

"_No. Sakura-hime, you will never be alone, I promise it. You have your necklace, right?" _

_She looked down and touched the dangling cherry blossom necklace. He hugged her._

"_Remember, a part of your mother and father's hearts are inside that necklace. And same as all the others who love you. You'll never be alone. Now, be brave for your mother and father."_

_She nodded, stifling back her tears. She would never be alone. She trusted Hizashi-san's words. Someday she would come back from her long trip, and someday she would see her mommy and daddy again._

_Then everything would be normal again. Right?_

_She climbed into the large trunk and then darkness enveloped her. She curled up into a ball and peeked through the small keyhole. She could feel someone lift the trunk and place it on the seat inside the carriage._

_Through the keyhole, she could see the village- the one she visited every afternoon on her walks and loved so much. But this village, this one looked different. Everything was burning. There were people with big black cloaks with a fan crest on the back hurting everybody. And there were people screaming…_

_And everyone seemed so…_

_Scared._

_Sad._

_All of a sudden, the carriage stopped and the trunk tumbled. She could hear the horses in the front shriek, and someone was laughing in a cruel way. She saw Hizashi-san, who was driving in the front, fall off his seat. Red splattered everywhere._

_The trunk fell again, this time to the ground. She saw the cobblestone ground, all the stones now red. She saw all the wide eyes of people that lay on the ground, still, unmoving. And Hizashi-san was with them._

_She heard the carriage's rickety sound fade, and the horses' whinnying became further…_

_And then she was alone._

_Alone…_

--

She could hear voices. Faint at first, but they were getting slowly clearer…

"So tell me again how this all happened?" It seemed like a girl's voice. Young and candid.

There was a sigh, and then the person- a young man- spoke. "The two must have taken a liking to each other somehow and…"

"That's impossible. How could a girl like Sakura-hime possibly like _him_? He's boring and he never smiles anyway. And he's an _Uchiha_."

"Hinabi," Another girl's voice chided, "Watch what you say-

"I don't care. It's true. She's part of the Haruno House, and he's part of the Uchiha House. Say something Neji, the Uchiha's were the ones who took your father's life."

"Hinabi's right, if the two were to continue with their relationship, then it would've put Sakura-hime into a dangerous situation…"

"Shh…She's awake."

She gathered the strength to lift her heavy eyelids. At first, everything seemed blurry, but then she could see the faces of three people standing by her bed.

"How are you feeling, Sakura-hime?" Hinata- the only one of the three faces she recognized- softly asked.

How was she feeling?

She knew now. The whole time she was asleep, she had dreams, nightmares, of her past. She knew who she was now.

She felt empty. Dead.

"I remember." She whispered.

"Everything."

--

The four of them now sat in her room- Sakura on the bed, and the three of them sitting in sofas by her. It was morning, and the sun streaked into the room, onto her bed and the carpet.

Sakura looked down at the teacup in her hands.

She could name all three of them now. Now that she remembered about her past. They were all her friends back then, and their House was loyal, close to hers.

Hinata was the same age as her, and she was the quiet, shy one. She remembered how Hinata always was hesitant to sneak off to the village with her during afternoon lessons. Hinata always followed the rules. She was kind, gentle, and reminded her a lot of her mother.

Hanabi was five years younger than Hinata, and Hinata's younger sister. She was always the serious one with the blunt nature. She remembered how she was always chided to be as mature as Hanabi.

Neji was one year older than her. He was the closest to her during her childhood. She remembered how he always followed her when she snuck away from the palace to play, just to make sure she didn't get hurt somehow. And he was the only one in the palace- besides her mother- who could find her when she was trying to hide from the tutors and servants.

And she also remembered friends from the Uchiha House. She remembered how kind they were to her, and all the smiles they wore.

But they were all fake.

What would've it been like…what would've been different about this very moment, if the Uchiha House had never betrayed her family?

She felt herself be gripped by hatred and anger.

The village would not be in such a mess.

She would still have a family.

And she wouldn't be burdened by this sadness right now.

It was all their fault.

All _his _fault.

He tricked her, betrayed her. Just like his family did to hers twelve years ago. He was no different from any of them.

"Um…Sakura-hime?"

She looked up at Hinata. Hime…Princess…that word put next to her name seemed so foreign.

"I know this is sudden…but…we…think it's best if you hide here instead of going back…"

"And wait until our leader figures out a plan how to overthrow the Uchiha House." Neji finished for her.

"I…I can't." She replied softly, no strength at all to talk normally.

"Why? Because the Robin Hood can't wait to be the hero?" Hanabi interrupted with sarcasm.

Her head snapped to the younger girl's direction in surprise.

"Yes. We know. It wasn't that hard to figure out. But right now, the Uchiha's think your dead. If you go back to robbing the palace again, it'll just be like asking for them to kill you."

"No, it's not-

"They're not stupid!" Hanabi stood up. Her pale eyes had a protective fire lighting them as she yelled at her. "They nearly killed you last time. And we've already lost you once! You're…you're the only hope for the village and our family swore to protect you! You can't, we won't, let you die!"

"I don't want to fight." She quietly said after waiting for Hanabi to finish.

She looked down at her lap as she felt their eyes on her, shocked at her words. _I don't want to fight…_the words were quiet, but they filled the silence.

Finally, Hanabi spoke again. Her voice was calm, but Sakura could hear how she was trying not to show her anger from how shaky it was.

"What do you mean, 'you're not fighting'?"

She didn't answer. Only stared at her lap. Looking into Hinabi's eyes would only make her feel guiltier.

Hanabi must have realized she wasn't planning to reply, because she yelled.

"You have to! You're the only one who can save this village! You had no problem fighting before as the heroine! Then why-

"I'm not a hero." She quietly broke Hanabi off.

Hanabi stopped and looked at her with shock. And to make sure she- they all- could hear her, she spoke again.

"Please don't call me a hero." She held her teacup tighter, surprisingly it hadn't broke yet.

"How can I be a hero…if I killed my best friend?"

The other three seemed to have no answer for her.

Then Neji calmly comforted her, "Sakura-hime, it wasn't your fault. Your friend-

"Your friend died for you." Hanabi cut her cousin off. "Your friend sacrificed his life for you so that you could save the villagers. And now, now he had died for nothing!"

"Too many people have died because of me. My life is not that valuable." She quietly replied to Hanabi's yells.

This she was certain of.

Neji seemed to have sensed the rising tension. "Maybe we should let you think about this for a while, Sakura-hime. For now, please just lay low and stay inside the chateau…"

"And that includes not running off and seeing that oaf of an Uchiha you love so much." Hinabi curtly said and then stalked off.

Sakura continued to stare at her lap, ignoring Neji's apologetic smile as he went after his cousin. Something burned in the back of her mouth. What was that feeling? It was an ugly, unsatisfying feeling. Blame. Hate.

"Please forgive my sister, Sakura-hime. She's quite a outspoken person…" Hinata trailed off, letting silence draw a curtain between them. Then she spoke quietly, "She cried for a week after you left and the massacre happened. She kept waking up and asking me if it was a nightmare…you meant a lot to her."

"I don't love him." She finally said.

Hinata looked at her and realized what she meant. She started to say something, but she had more to say.

"It was all just a lie. He is nothing but a traitor."

Hinata gave her a sad smile, then softly spoke. "I don't know if it is in my position to say this, but…I saw Sasuke-denka at the door when he carried you. And the way he looked and the way he spoke…he sounded like he was really sorry. The other thing I noticed was that…

"He really loved you."

She watched the tea ripple gently in her cup.

She would not fall for him. It was all fake.

"I thought the House of Hyuuga is against the Uchihas."

Hinata replied. "No. Our family wasn't taught to hate or be loyal to any other House."

"We go by what we feel is right."

--

"We've arrived, Sakura-hime." Hiashi said when he led her to the front of a rotting door at the end of an abandoned alley.

It had been a little more than a week since she first began hiding at the Hyuuga manor. And she agreed to follow after the House of Hyuuga's plans.

But her reasons were selfish:

She wanted revenge too much.

She took of the hood from her head and carefully stepped into the small, dim room. She was still unused to walking around in a gown. Hiashi- the leader of the House- followed behind her.

What she found inside shocked her.

Men. Everywhere. They stood with rusted daggers, bent swords. Their shirt's ripped; skin dirty, no shoes…but their eyes. It was their eyes. They were faithful, loyal, determined.

And they all were on her.

Hiashi spoke out in a loud, commanding voice, "Men! Twelve years ago, the House of Uchiha has robbed this village of its happiness. Twelve years ago, the House of Uchiha turned it's back on the kind rule of the Haruno family. For twelve years, this village has suffered. Twelve, long, years!"

The men agreed in shouts.

Hiashi waited for them to quiet down, and then continued. "But the House of Uchiha did not succeed in destroying all hope! For there is a survivor! The daughter of the Haruno family still lives! And she stands right next to me!"

They cheered.

"She will bring this village what it has been unfairly denied for twelve years back! She will lead us in the revenge against the House of Uchiha! And on that night…"

The crowd roared with determination. Fist pumps. Fiery eyes.

All towards her.

Her.

And somehow, she felt…

Frightened. Because she somehow knew what he was going to say next.

"The name 'Uchiha' will cease to exist!"

* * *

**A/N: **

**--**

**Edit (8/22/09): Okay, okay, I'm getting people saying that it's Hanabi. And I realize that now. Sorry! Sorry! For some dumb reason I always call her Hinabi in my mind...**

**--**

**And the two lovers are pulled even further…**

**I'm actually not sure how Hinabi's personality is like. She's a really minor character. But I assumed, by her looks and what the manga has said, that an outspoken, serious, and blunt personality would suit her. **

**Sorry about the late upload. Everything suddenly got so busy. And school's starting soon too. **

**Thanks for reading!**


	24. Repayment

**Chapter 24: Repayment**

_"Those who seek forgiveness will not find it with a measly 'sorry'…" _

_I remember reading this in a book many years ago. I remember reading on from there…_

_But I can't remember the rest. _

_Sometimes I look in the library just to find that book again, only to come out still no closer to the answer I was before. _

_But I still look often, just in case someday, it might show up. And then…_

_I'd be able to find a way for you to forgive me._

_Even if a simple 'sorry' would work for you…_

_I can't say it. _

_Because that's my punishment from fate, from God, isn't it? That we be separated, and that I be haunted with guilt until I die. And even then my soul still probably will be tortured. Alone._

_What can I do to make you forgive me?_

_The repayment you deserve must be infinite. For it is because of me that you lost everything. I stole everything from you. All because I was too weak._

_Even if you do not hate me, if you have already given me your forgiveness…_

_I cannot forgive myself._

_And I do not know the cure for this. _

_For the only way I would ever accept myself and believe that I have your forgiveness is if you were to come back to me again smiling. _

_But that will never happen._

_And so…_

_I cannot forgive._

_And in my mind…_

_neither can you._

_And at thinking of this, I sometimes have a thought…that if one has stole something from another, their repayment must be something equally as precious as what they've stolen...if they want to feel at peace once more._

_A toy for a toy._

_A meal for a meal._

_A life for a life._

--

_Dark._

_The night was too dark._

_Then a scream. It sounded inhuman, an animal shrieking in mercy outside his door._

"_M-mother?" He whimpered, pulled his covers closer to him as he sat up in bed._

_Suddenly, his room didn't seem safe anymore. Even with the tiny candle flickering at the desk. The shadows were too long, and the walls towered over him. _

_He could hear footsteps now, and they were getting louder. So was the breathing, something was breathing. Thirsty. Heavy. Raspy._

_Dark red seeped through the crack at the bottom. And he saw an arm lie lifelessly on the ground. He caught sight of the bracelet his mother always wore on the still arms wrist. _

_He shook. _

_His mother…he was going to die…_

"_Please. Not Sasuke. Leave Sasuke." His father. _

_His father- the king- he was begging…_

_It scared him. _

_And then he heard a splatter. He saw even more red spread through the carpet._

"_Father!" He screamed. _

_He couldn't help it, tears came down, and he started to cry. _

_Scared…he was so scared. _

_Why? Why?_

_The door slowly creaked open, and he saw the shadow come to him. He stood in front of him, and he just kept crying as he looked up at the stranger. _

_The shadow lifted an arm, and he saw the dagger in his hand flash._

_His mother…his father…_

_Why? Why?_

_And the bright light from the dagger came closer to his eyes…He closed them…_

_But nothing happened._

_Because someone else stood in the way. The blade was in someone else's chest. The blood on his face wasn't his._

_It was his brother's._

"_Itachi! Onii-san!" _

_But no matter how loud he screamed, his brother wouldn't get up from the ground._

"_Why? Why!?"_

_The shadow laughed. It reminded him of blood and sickened him. _

"_I'll let you live…Sasuke. There's no use in killing the weak."_

"_Who are you!?" He screamed. It was all his fault. He was alone now…_

_He looked up into the shadow's eyes…_

_They were red._

--

He sat up.

The sunlight came into his room in streams of bright white-yellow. He ignored how bright it was, somehow relieved that the sun was up outside.

He realized he was drenched in sweat and he was fighting for his breath.

Thank god.

It was just a dream…

Just a dream…

He tried calming himself down.

It had been nearly ten years since he had that nightmare. Last time, he was only seven. And that was when it had happened.

Yet the memories of his mother, father, and brother's death seemed just as clear as it did seven years ago. And the nightmare…

The nightmare was just as frightening.

Who was he?

He closed his eyes, the red eyes followed him. Hauntingly hungry for blood, pain…

The man was right in front of him. He looked so familiar. Yet…yet…

He couldn't remember.

He couldn't tell who it was.

Why couldn't he see who he was?

His mother died scared because of that man. His father died begging. And his brother died protecting him…

And he couldn't avenge them.

If he could just think harder…

He still couldn't remember.

He got up and went to the balcony, where he could see the old garden- the cherry blossom tree.

His eyes widened and he rushed outside.

The tree was bare.

He looked down at the cherry blossom covered ground. There was no sign of anything there either.

He thought he had seen something from his bedroom…

Like the last two days, it was just an illusion.

A sudden wind blew and the small specks of morning light in the shadows of the flowers danced. Petals fell from above. He caught a full flower and opened his palm.

"Sakura…" He whispered.

Just the sound, the feeling of her name coming from his lips…it brought so much sadness, so much longing.

So much guilt.

"_Lies! They're all lies!"_

"_I hate you!"_

He slammed his fist in to the trunk.

It…it wasn't a lie. He was never lying.

He let his head rest on the trunk and watch the blood trickle from his cut knuckles.

It wouldn't go away. Her tears, her eyes, her screams filled with hate and hurt…

They wouldn't go away.

That smile she had, that kiss they shared…how long ago was that?

Everything was so close to perfect before. He had her. He had someone who loved him.

And now he was alone again.

It wasn't him.

He never knew _anything._

Why did this happen to them?

If only…if only they weren't who they were. If only he…

If only he didn't belong in this house.

He would still have a family.

He would still have her.

Being king…he didn't want the title anymore. Not if it meant this.

He hated being an Uchiha.

--

Flashback

"So…this tree's still standing, huh?"

_He turned and saw Neji behind him, looking up at the flowers. He looked back at the trunk, as if he stared at it more, maybe it would appear._

"_Yeah. I guess." He replied._

_A peaceful silence passed by._

"_You know," Neji then spoke, "this whole garden was made by Sayuri-denka of the Haruno House. It was the pride and joy of the palace. Especially this cherry blossom tree, the little princess would always come play here."_

_Sasuke knew there once ruled another House before his…he just never knew anything about them. His House came to rule when he was five, and he couldn't remember anything. _

"_What…was it like back then?"_

_Neji looked into the horizon and then down at the village at the bottom of the hill, "Peaceful, happy. There weren't so many beggars, and you would see more people smiling instead of crying."_

"_What happened to them?" _

_Then, he could've sworn he caught a dark, angered cloud his friend's eyes. But maybe it was his imagination, for when the sunlight caught it again, they showed nothing.. _

"_They were murdered. By your House."_

End of Flashback.

--

"Ah, Sasuke-denka."

He felt his jaw tighten at the sound of his name coming from that voice. He turned and gave his uncle a silent nod, hoping that the expression on his face was neutral.

But his uncle seemed to pay no mind to him, and instead walked up to the tree and brushed a hand across the rough trunk.

"I see you have taken a liking to this tree.'

He went stiff.

Did he know about the whole thing?

Was he watching all these months?

"It's quite an ancient tree. Same goes for this garden. I had never thought of it before, but perhaps it would be a good idea to demolish it…"

He watched his uncle stroke his chin. And he had no choice but to wait for him to speak again. For if he were to open his mouth, all his anger would come tumbling out…

And that would only lead him to trouble.

He stood in silence, the frustration tensing him till he felt numb. He finally decided to ask, something he thought he would never dare…

"Was…it necessary for the Haruno House to be…" He hesitated, trying to find a word.

His uncle continued to run his hand down the rough bark. "I see you've heard of the Haruno House…and you, just like the former Queen, have failed to realize that" He turned and looked him in the eye.

"the weak never survive."

Then his uncle walked by him, only to stop at the garden entrance to call out. "Come now, Sasuke-denka. There is business you must attend to."

As if he could sense the questions Sasuke silently asked, he took out of his pocket a gold necklace, with the Haruno crest of a cherry blossom at the center.

"This necklace was found at the town square the night the Robin Hood died." Sasuke could sense a smile on his uncle's lips. The one that turned his blood cold.

"It appears that there is still one Haruno left."

Sasuke didn't move. "What are you planning?" But he knew what his uncle was going to say next.

He watched his uncle unsheathe his sword, and he saw those dangerous eyes in the reflection.

"We are going to finish what we did twelve years ago."

--

"No! No!"

His ears hurt. Every moment rung with the hysterical and fearful shrieks of women begging for mercy.

"I didn't do it! It wasn't me!"

On his stallion, he watched a girl about his age get dragged out of her house by a soldier. He watched her cling to the man's leg, begging innocence of a crime she did not even know. He saw the soldier kick her. And when the blood started to gush from her head and dirty her already tangled hair, he laughed mercilessly.

He turned, afraid that if he saw more, he would puke. But it was no use.

It was the same everywhere in the village.

He could only close his eyes.

But that would show weakness, wouldn't it?

So he had no choice but to watch.

Watch as women were made helpless, and he could do nothing.

He hated himself. How he couldn't- didn't- do anything. She was right…

He wasn't any different from any of his family. Wasn't different from his uncle.

In the end, he was still heartless.

He looked to his uncle, there was a faint smile on his face. As if he was enjoying this. The blood, the tears, the begging of mercy. And at that moment, his uncle was not his advisor, not the man who was his father's closest friend, his brother's most trusted guide…

He was a monster.

"Sasuke-denka, supervise this area. I am going to see how the East end of the village is doing." And with that, his uncle trotted off.

He watched him walk off and give a few commands. He observed the small, faded picture in his hands, the one that his uncle gave to him. A photograph of the Haruno House.

His eyes widened. The young girl in the front of the picture, smiling, with green eyes…she reminded him of…

"Sir!"

He turned his attention to another soldier who stood in front of him.

"I found another one!"

He looked at the hooded figure that struggled in the soldier's grasp. He could tell it was another girl about his age, dressed in a considerably expensive gown- unlike most of the women here. He could not see her face though.

She wiggled and tried to push the soldier off, putting up more of a fight than most of the others. She was different. She didn't scream. Cry. Plead.

"I found this one in an alley. The little bitch tried to run away when I asked her about the Haruno House."

Sasuke looked down at the girl, who refused to cling on to his cape like the rest of the women. Refused to look up at him and kneel before him. As if she did not accept him as the king.

"Where are your manners? Get down!" The soldier shoved her down.

She fell. And the solder ripped off her hood.

The girl who glared at him with unforgiving eyes…

Was Sakura.

And then he remembered.

He saw her empty neck and he remembered.

That necklace was hers.

She did not break her gaze from him. Her cold eyes bore into his, burning yet freezing him with guilt.

As if she had come to known that he had just realized who she was…her eyes flashed with a certain challenged. As if she dared him to kill her. To reveal her for who she was.

To end forever for good.

A silence blew between them, along with infinite mixed feelings. And then, he spoke.

"She's not her."

"Let her go."

With that, he left.

**

* * *

**

A/N: Oh Gosh, I'm so so so sorry. Highschool started, and being the freshie that I am, it's totally stressful. I think my uploading may slow down. I'm sorry. I'm crying because of it too, I love writing but I don't have as much time as I did. :(

And thank you for the advice of joining the anime club. I am. And everyone there is AWESOME!!! I sit with them sometimes now (it's better than having grapes thrown at you by a buncha seniors).


	25. Reach

**Chapter 25: Reach**

_Sometime when I dream of you, I dream that you are up above. I am looking up at you, and you…that's what scares me, I am not sure if you are looking back at me… _

_Maybe you aren't. For maybe you are looking ahead, up at the sky. That is what I fear. I fear that if you are looking at the beautiful clouds, the azure sky in my dreams…_

_Then it means that I mean nothing to you now._

_Isn't that so selfish? I know I've always been. For something as pure as your heart shouldn't bother with something as tainted as me. I've- and still do- reminded myself every time that you are light, and I am darkness. And so, because darkness dies when light shines…_

_I am nothing in your world._

_But you are everything in mine. _

_You **are** my world._

_Then…how ironic is it, that my world is something I cannot reach?_

_For in my dreams, you are always too high above me. Too far from me to be able to reach out to you and pull you closer. _

_This I am certain about, but it cannot be confirmed. For in those dreams…_

_I never try._

_I never try to reach you, not because you seem too far._

_But because I am afraid that if I were to reach out to you…_

_You would not do the same._

--

Summer nights felt so long.

That was the thought that echoed in his head as the town clock rung with the moon peering from above. And that constant ache he had been enduring for more than two weeks now- though it felt like months…he was starting to be familiar with it. But it was at this time when the weight of solitude turned into daggers.

Like every night since, he stood under the tree with the near-white blossoms bright above him. He stood there. Remembering. Waiting.

For what?

For with waiting, you can only wait if you know something was going to return. But he, he knew that what- who- he needed would never forgive him. He deserved it. He deserved to stand alone and cold like this, with the longing and regret weighing down his shoulders. It was selfish to even want her back.

But still, he hoped.

"Sasuke." A voice softly called behind.

His chest felt lighter and hid breath quickened. He turned

But the image in his mind faded. The pale-rose hair replaced with platinum blonde. The fresh-mint eyes disappeared under aqua blue.

The ache silently washed over his chest again.

"Ino…san."

She must've seen how pale his face was, or maybe how tight his voice was. It was getting harder and harder to hide his pain. Was he that obvious now?

"Is there something wrong Sasuke?" No, the way she said his name…it wasn't the same.

Her blue eyes, framed by her long hair glowing a light-gold in the silvery light, showed genuine worry. She came closer to him, bringing her head to his chest. He lightly held her as he silently continued to watch the sakura dance in the wind.

He felt her nuzzle deeper into the cloth of his coat and then murmur something.

"Did you hear me?" She lifted her face from him and looked up.

He realized that she had asked him something and looked down.

"Our wedding preparation is tomorrow." She repeated quietly.

With the moonlight glowing on her delicately pale skin, he could see how happy she was. A pang of guilt washed over him. For what she saw on his face would never be the same expression he was seeing on hers. And all this he was doing for her…it would always be fake.

She was pretty. And perhaps he would've liked her when he first arrived here, or at least grown to love her. Maybe he even would've been able to return the smile she gave him now.

She deserved someone else. But they had no choice, right?

"Ne, Sasuke?"

"Hn?" he looked at her as she sleepily laid her head back onto his chest.

"I love you."

He watched the cherry blossoms dance by.

--

"What do you think of this, Sasuke-denka?"

He looked up at the ribbons, rich in reds and fringed with flowers, that were tied overhead high on the walls. They were bold and bright, compared to the white purity of the church.

A ribbon fell on his head, a maid gasped and apologized frantically until another servant crashed into him with a basket full of flowers in his hands. He only gave a curt nod and walked off, only to have more people crash into him.

"That looks wonderful! I can't wait until tomorrow!" Ino gushed to the maids that were arranging the flowers in the front. The large window of stained glass poured lights of turqoise, lime, and cherry to the deep Venetian red carpet and gleamed over the petals.

He rubbed his forehead. The scent of roses was too strong for him. And their seemed to be not enough air in the church hall to keep over a hundred people content. At least…not enough air to keep him happy.

His head felt heavy, and he could not think clearly. Whenever he tried to think of something else, it would always go to the marriage.

Tomorrow, he would be married. To Ino.

And to be married…would that mean…

Forever?

"Sasuke?" He heard her call out. "Where are you going?"

"I need some fresh air." He mumbled. From the shouting and the orders from the servants, she probably didn't hear him.

But he left anyway.

The fresh air in his lungs, cleaner and lighter, did him no good. There was still that sickness in his stomach. And the light breeze seemed too cold, while his body felt feverishly hot. But the worst was his chest.

It still hurt.

He found himself in a field of gravestones, extending far into the forest that framed the church. A sea of gray stone, marble, granite, glossy with intricate gold poems and names carved on them. He never had visited the village church. He was never the religious type. But now, as he saw the elegant gravestones surrounding him for the first time, he realized how ironic it was.

This church belonged to the village. For them to pray, hope. But these names on stone…they were not the villagers. Not the thousands of villagers who have died of starvation.

They were of the royals.

He must've spent half an hour searching for their names. Uchiha Mikoto. Uchiha Fugaku.

And it was when he wandered into the forest path when he realized he wasn't alone.

Among the polished stone was a figure. A girl in a dress, with her back towards him, in front of a simple wooden cross that did not belong. She bent down and placed a bouquet of flowers, whispered something and then stood.

He noticed that she had long rose hair.

It blew in the wind that passed between them. The end of her satin crimson gown picked up and ruffled.

She had noticed him too.

"This was the best I could do for him. I visit him everyday now too."

Her voice was like the wind, chilly and brisk.

"I never got a chance to teach him how to use a longbow."

He tried not to flinch at her accusing words. They stung.

"Sakura-

"Why are you here?" The sharp tone cut right through.

"I…" _Trying to say how sorry I am…to ask you to forgive me…_

But why should she?

He was too scared to ask.

"I'm getting married tomorrow. To Lady Ino of the Yamanaka House."

"Congratulations." Her voice didn't seem the least bit happy for him. She didn't seem to care.

Perhaps that was the one thing that hurt the most.

"It wasn't my idea, I didn't want to. It was an arranged-

She gave a harsh laugh. "What? Like you think I'm actually sad? You think I still want you back? After all you did?"

"Look, it wasn't my fault-

"And so what? What if it wasn't?" She gritted. "Naruto's still gone!

"Nothing you do can bring him back!"

"I didn't mean for it to happen. Trust me!" He shouted. Why wouldn't she believe him? How could she possibly think that his emotions were lies? He shook, and gathered the courage to yell.

"None of it was a lie! I loved you! And…

"I still do."

She stayed silent. And after a few moments, she did something that hurt him even more.

"I don't need you.

"I never did."

She seemed so certain. Maybe it was true. She didn't need him. But still…but still…

"Just…please…" He begged. "I'll…I'll do anything…"

"Of course you would." She said softly. "…as long as it doesn't risk your title. As long as you keep your family happy.

"Why don't you just finish me off right now?"

His chest turned to ice. The thought of it turned him cold. "I would never do that."

Her voice turned fiery, her fists shook. "And why not? Your family had no problem betraying my parents. You had no problem ruining my life! If it weren't for the Uchiha, I would have parents! I would have a home!

"You already know who I am. I'm Haruno Sakura! The survivor of the family the Uchiha killed twelve years ago! And you…

"You're Uchiha Sasuke. A weak, lying, backstabbing, Uchiha!"

And maybe it was just him. But he swore he heard a hint of desperateness, or maybe even sadness when she said.

"Don't you get it? We can _never_ be together!"

"It doesn't matter-

"Go away. I don't even want to hear your voice anymore. You mean _nothing_ to me."

"Sakura-

She shrieked.

"I said, go away!"

He did.

* * *


End file.
